Why it works: Nutmeg and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,318 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓
Christmas Cake
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Mix the batter
In a large bowl, mix the currants, moist sugar, nutmeg, candied lemon-peel, brandy, and beaten eggs.
Add a heaped teaspoon of baking powder for every pound of material.
Fill and bake
Butter the cake tins and line them with buttered paper.
Pour the mixture into the prepared tins.
Bake for about 2 hours.
Finish
Let cool before serving.
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.
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Nutmeg + lemontop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together11,318 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Currant + brandytop 7% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,057 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
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Nutmeg + brandytop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,311 recipes
Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
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Currant + nutmegtop 16% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,983 recipes
Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).
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Nutmeg + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together24,744 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Nutmeg and egg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 24,744 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
- Currants
- Provide the bulk of the cake and chewy, juicy fruit pieces.
- Moist sugar
- Adds sweetness and moisture, and helps keep the cake tender.
- Eggs
- Bind the mixture and give it structure as they set in the oven.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas when heated, so the cake rises and gets a lighter crumb.
- Candied lemon-peel
- Adds bright, aromatic citrus flavour that balances the sweetness.
The step that matters
Adding the baking powder. Baking powder must be measured against the weight of the batter. Too little leaves the cake dense, while too much can make the crumb coarse and leave a bitter, soapy taste.
Swap the currant
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, nutmeg, lemon, brandy, egg):
- Vanillafits better
- Orangefits better
- Raisinfits better
- Currantthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, nutmeg, lemon, brandy, egg. 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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