Name: White Cake
Ingredients: ½ pound fresh butter; ½ pound granulated sugar; 8 large eggs, separated; 2 ounces candied orange peel, chopped; ½ teaspoon ground mace; ⅓ cup brandy

Why it works: Orange and brandy are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,706 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓

White Cake

Ingredients

Directions

Beat the butter until creamy.
Add the sugar and mix until well combined.
Whisk the egg yolks and whites separately, then add them to the mixture.
Stir in the candied orange peel, mace, and brandy.
Mix until all ingredients are well incorporated.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

Orange + brandytop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together2,706 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Butter + brandytop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,127 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together118,967 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together98,233 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Egg + brandytop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together7,340 recipes

Shared aroma: acetoin (butter, cream).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

Swap the mace

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, sugar, egg, orange, brandy):

Cinnamonfits better
Nutmegfits better
Gingerfits better
Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, sugar, egg, orange, brandy. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.