Why it works: Cinnamon and nutmeg 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 ↓
Coffee 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 the batter
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Cream together the sugar and butter until light and fluffy.
Add the molasses and eggs, mixing well.
In a separate bowl, combine the spices, baking soda, and cream of tartar with the flour.
Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture, alternating with the coffee.
Fold in the raisins, currants, citron, and lemon peel.
Bake
Pour the batter into a greased baking pan.
Bake for about 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick 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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Cinnamon + nutmegtop 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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Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and add structure as they set during baking.
- Butter
- Adds richness and tenderness through fat that coats the flour.
- Flour
- Builds the cake's main structure once its proteins set in the oven.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cake and helps it brown and keep moisture.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic molasses and cream of tartar to help the cake rise.
- Molasses
- Adds depth, dark color, and moisture with a mild acidity.
The step that matters
Alternating the dry ingredients with the coffee. Adding flour and coffee in portions keeps the batter smoothly emulsified and prevents overmixing, which would toughen the crumb.
Swap the clove
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, butter, molasses, egg, cinnamon, nutmeg, cream):
- Allspicefits about as well
- Clovethe original
- Cardamomfits about as well
- Gingerfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, butter, molasses, egg, cinnamon, nutmeg, cream. 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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