Why it works: Nutmeg and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,917 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓
Pound Cake
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderate oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the batter
Beat the butter into a cream.
Mix in the beaten whites and yolks of the eggs.
Warm the flour over the fire.
Combine flour, sugar, cloves, nutmeg, and cinnamon.
Gradually work the dry ingredients into the butter and eggs.
Beat the mixture for a full hour.
Bake
Butter a pan and bake in a 400°F (200°C) oven for one hour.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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.
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Nutmeg + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together11,917 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Clove + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,189 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
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Clove + nutmegtop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together8,686 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Nutmeg + carawaytop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together200 recipes
Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
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Cinnamon + carawaytop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together188 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Butter
- Creamed with sugar, it traps air and gives the cake its rich, tender crumb.
- Eggs
- Beaten whites and yolks add structure and lift, setting the crumb as the cake bakes.
- Flour
- Provides the structure that holds the cake together as it sets in the oven.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cake and helps it brown while adding tenderness to the crumb.
The step that matters
Beat the mixture for a full hour. Long beating incorporates air into the butter and egg mixture, which gives lift. Under-beating leaves a dense cake, while the batter must still be combined gently enough to keep that trapped air.
Swap the caraway
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, egg, flour, sugar, clove, nutmeg, cinnamon):
- Allspicefits better
- Cardamomfits better
- Gingerfits about as well
- Carawaythe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, egg, flour, sugar, clove, nutmeg, cinnamon. 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.
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