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 ↓
Hickory Nut 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
Cream together the butter and sugar until very creamy.
Add one egg at a time, alternating with 1 tablespoon of flour, mixing for at least 5 minutes for each egg.
Continue alternating flour and eggs until all eggs are incorporated.
Add the remaining flour and nut kernels, then mix in the brandy.
Bake and test
Pour the batter into a deep dish and place it on a small stand in a 350°F (175°C) oven.
Bake for about 1.5 hours, testing with a corn straw or knitting needle.
If the needle comes out sticky, the cake is not done; if dry, the cake is baked.
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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Flour + nutmegtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,623 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Brandy + nutmegtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,311 recipes
Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
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Butter + brandytop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,127 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
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
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and add structure and lift as the cake sets in the oven.
- Flour
- Provides the structure that holds the cake together as it bakes.
- Butter
- Adds richness and tenderness through fat creamed with the sugar.
- Nut kernels
- Add texture and flavor, distributed through the batter.
The step that matters
Mixing each egg into the batter. Mixing each egg for a long time while alternating with flour helps build a smooth, stable emulsion and an even crumb. Adding eggs too fast can cause the batter to separate or turn out dense.
Swap the nutmeg
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, sugar, flour, egg, brandy):
- Cinnamonfits about as well
- Nutmegthe original
- Capersfits less well
- Allspicefits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, sugar, flour, egg, brandy. 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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