Why it works: Flour and almond are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,673 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Pound 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.
Make the batter
Whip the butter to a cream.
Gradually add the sugar.
Whisk the eggs well and add them next.
Sift in the flour.
Work in the fruit, almonds, and flavouring, stirring in one direction.
Mix all ingredients well for about 30 minutes.
Bake
Bake in small tins for about 40 minutes at 350°F (175°C).
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 + almondtop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,673 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Butter + almondtop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,245 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
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Butter + flourtop 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).
Butter and flour 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
- Butter
- Creamed with sugar, it traps air and gives the cake its rich, tender crumb.
- Eggs
- Add structure and richness, and help bind the batter as it sets in the oven.
- Fine flour
- Forms the main structure of the cake as its proteins set during baking.
- Castor sugar
- Sweetens the cake and helps hold air in the creamed butter for lightness.
- Minced almonds
- Add texture and a nutty flavour, and some richness from their oil.
The step that matters
Mix the batter for about 30 minutes in one direction. Long, steady stirring builds a smooth, evenly structured batter and keeps the fruit and almonds evenly distributed. Stirring erratically or unevenly can knock air out of the creamed butter and make the crumb dense.
Swap the currant
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, flour, egg, sugar, almond):
- Raisinfits better
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Currantthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, flour, egg, sugar, almond. 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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