Why it works: Clove and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 17,451 recipes. Both carry ethyl octanoate, which smells fruity, wine. The science ↓
Beef Cake
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point. The book gives no cooking times either; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a bowl, mix the minced beef suet with cloves, mace, salt, and cayenne.
Slice the bacon and line the inside of a baking dish with it, leaving the bottom clear.
Press the beef mixture into the dish tightly.
Cover the beef with the remaining bacon slices.
Place a plate upside down on top and weigh it down with something heavy.
Bake and serve
Bake for 1 hour, then serve with rich gravy.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
-
Clove + peppertop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together17,451 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
-
Clove + macetop 6% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together8,400 recipes
Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).
-
Beef + peppertop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,971 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Mace + peppertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together12,257 recipes
Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
-
Beef + clovetop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,462 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
Mace and pepper barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 12,257 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Lean tender beef
- Forms the bulk of the loaf and gives it its meaty structure.
- Beef suet
- Adds fat that keeps the loaf moist and rich as it cooks.
- Bacon
- Lines and covers the loaf, adding fat and savoury flavour as it cooks.
- Ground cloves
- Adds warm, aromatic spice flavour.
- Ground mace
- Adds a warm, nutmeg-like aroma.
The step that matters
Press the beef mixture into the dish tightly. Packing the mixture firmly pushes out air pockets, so the loaf holds together when sliced and cooks more evenly. Loose packing can leave gaps that crumble or dry out.
Swap the mace
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, clove, pepper):
- Allspicefits better
- Marjoramfits better
- Cinnamonfits better
- Macethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against beef, clove, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
More beef loaf recipes
You might also like
Roast Beef211 recipes
Corned Beef87 recipes
Beef Broth67 recipes
Beef Croquettes58 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.