Name: Jelly-cake
Ingredients: sponge or cup cake batter; butter for greasing; jelly (grape or currant preferred); sifted sugar for dusting

Why it works: Butter and grape are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,028 recipes. Both carry 3-hexenal, which smells apple, fruity. The science ↓

Jelly-cake

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

sponge or cup cake batter
butter for greasing
jelly (grape or currant preferred)
sifted sugar for dusting

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
Grease shallow tin pans or plates.
Pour the batter into the pans to a thickness of about ½ inch.
Bake until light brown, about a few minutes.
Remove from the oven and place on a flat surface.
Spread a layer of jelly on top of each cake.
Stack the cakes with jelly between each layer, reserving the nicest-looking cake for the top without jelly.
Dust with sifted sugar and cut into slices before serving.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

Butter + grapetop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,028 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together98,233 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Grape + sugartop 23% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together7,490 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).