Why it works: Flour and nutmeg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 18,623 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Drop Cakes
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a slack 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).
Make the batter
In a bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
Beat in the eggs one at a time.
Add the grated nutmeg and mix well.
Incorporate the flour and baking powder, then fold in the currants.
Bake
Drop spoonfuls of the batter onto a baking sheet.
Bake for about 10 minutes until lightly golden.
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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Flour + nutmegtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,623 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
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).
-
Butter + nutmegtop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together24,377 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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
- All-purpose flour
- Provides the main structure that sets as the cakes bake.
- Unsalted butter
- Creamed with sugar to trap air, giving a light, tender crumb and rich flavour.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cakes and helps the creamed butter hold air for lightness.
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and add richness and structure as they set in the oven.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the oven so the drops rise and lighten.
- Currants
- Add pockets of chewy sweetness and fruit flavour throughout the cakes.
The step that matters
Creaming the butter and sugar. Beating until light and fluffy traps air in the fat, which expands in the oven and gives a light texture. Under-creamed butter leads to dense, heavy cakes.
Swap the currant
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, butter, sugar, nutmeg, egg):
- Raisinfits better
- Vanillafits better
- Lemonfits better
- Currantthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, butter, sugar, nutmeg, 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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