Why it works: Sugar and syrup match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,842 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Iced Coffee 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.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Make the batter
Beat the margarine, sugar, and golden syrup in a bowl until creamy.
Add the egg and mix well.
Stir in the flour, baking powder, lemon peel, and coffee essence until combined.
Pour the batter into a greased flat baking tin.
Bake and finish
Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Allow the cake to cool before icing with coffee icing and decorating with baked chopped almonds if desired.
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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Sugar + syruptop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,842 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
-
Coffee + syruptop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together318 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + syruptop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,540 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Flour and egg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 106,462 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 cake bakes.
- Margarine
- Adds fat that keeps the crumb tender and moist.
- Caster sugar
- Sweetens the cake and helps trap air when beaten with the fat.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas during baking so the cake rises and becomes light.
- Egg
- Binds the batter and adds structure and richness.
- Lyle's golden syrup
- Adds sweetness and moisture and helps the cake stay soft.
The step that matters
Checking doneness with a toothpick. Baking for the stated time alone may not fully set the centre. A toothpick inserted in the middle should come out clean, showing the starch and egg have set; underbaking leaves a dense, gummy crumb.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, sugar, egg, coffee, syrup):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits better
- Figfits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, sugar, egg, coffee, syrup. 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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