Why it works: Cinnamon and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 17,341 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Nut Cake
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a steady oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the batter
Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
Add the cold water and the well-beaten egg yolks, mixing well.
In a separate bowl, combine the ground mace and cinnamon with the flour.
Stir the flour mixture into the butter mixture alternately with the stiffly beaten egg whites until just combined.
Fold in the hickory nut kernels gently.
Bake and finish
Pour the batter into a well-greased loaf pan.
Cover the cake with brown paper and bake at 350°F (175°C) for about 1 hour, or until a straw inserted in the thickest part comes out clean.
Once cooled, turn the cake out and cover with a plain icing made from egg whites.
Decorate the top with half-kernels of hickory nuts.
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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Cinnamon + flourtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,341 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Mace + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,611 recipes
Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).
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Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together30,779 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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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).
Sugar and cinnamon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 30,779 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 to trap air, giving the cake a light, tender crumb and rich flavour.
- Sugar
- Creams with butter to aerate the batter and adds sweetness and browning.
- Egg yolks
- Add richness, fat and emulsifying power that help bind the batter smoothly.
- Egg whites
- Whipped and folded in to lighten the batter and give structure as the cake sets.
- Prepared flour
- Forms the gluten and starch framework that gives the cake its structure.
- Hickory nut kernels
- Add nutty flavour, fat and texture throughout the crumb.
The step that matters
Folding in the egg whites. Stiffly beaten whites hold the air that lifts the batter. Alternating them with the flour mixture and stirring only until just combined keeps the air from collapsing, so the cake rises evenly and stays light.
Swap the mace
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, sugar, egg, cinnamon, flour):
- Nutmegfits better
- Cardamomfits better
- Allspicefits better
- Macethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, sugar, egg, cinnamon, flour. 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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