Why it works: Clove and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,189 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. The science ↓
Spice 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
In a large bowl, cream together the sugar and butter.
Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
Stir in the buttermilk.
In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, allspice, cloves, and cinnamon.
Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture, mixing until just combined.
Pour the batter into a greased cake pan.
Bake
Bake for one hour or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
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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Clove + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,189 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
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Allspice + clovetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together7,874 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
-
Allspice + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,536 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Buttermilk + flourtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,721 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Cinnamon + flourtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,341 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cake and helps create a tender crumb when creamed with butter.
- Eggs
- Add structure and richness, binding the batter as the cake sets.
- Butter
- Adds fat for tenderness and flavor, and traps air when creamed with sugar.
- Buttermilk
- Adds moisture and acidity that tenderizes the crumb and reacts with the baking soda.
- Flour
- Provides the structure that sets the cake as the batter bakes.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic buttermilk to produce gas that helps the cake rise.
The step that matters
Mixing the dry ingredients into the wet mixture. Mixing until just combined keeps the batter tender. Overmixing develops gluten in the flour, which can make the cake tough and dense.
Swap the clove
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, egg, butter, buttermilk, allspice, cinnamon, flour):
- Nutmegfits better
- Cardamomfits about as well
- Clovethe original
- Gingerfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, egg, butter, buttermilk, allspice, 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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