Why it works: Flour and caraway match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,435 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Plain Seed Cake
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a slow oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the batter
Preheat oven to 300°F (150°C).
Cream the dripping or butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
Beat in the egg and mix well.
Sift in the flour and baking powder, then add the caraway seeds and mixed peel.
Gradually mix in enough milk powder to achieve a smooth batter.
Bake
Pour the batter into a greased cake pan.
Bake until golden and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
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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Flour + carawaytop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,435 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Butter + milk powdertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together142 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-undecalactone (coconut, creamy).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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
- Flour
- Forms the main structure of the cake crumb as it sets in the oven.
- Dripping or butter
- Creams with the sugar to trap air and adds richness and a tender texture.
- Sugar
- Creams with the fat to aerate the batter and adds sweetness and browning.
- Egg
- Binds the batter and helps set the crumb structure.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the batter to help the cake rise and become light.
- Caraway seeds
- Contribute the characteristic aromatic, slightly peppery flavour of the cake.
The step that matters
Creaming the fat and sugar. Beating fat and sugar together until light and fluffy traps air bubbles that expand in the oven. Under-creaming gives a dense cake, while the batter must stay smooth so the rise is even.
Swap the caraway
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, butter, sugar, egg, milk powder):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Nutmegfits better
- Carawaythe original
- Jalapenofits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, butter, sugar, egg, milk powder. 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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