Why it works: Nutmeg and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,917 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. 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).
In a mixing bowl, cream together the sugar and butter.
Add the sour milk, chopped raisins, eggs, grated nutmeg, cinnamon, and baking soda. Mix until well combined and the batter is rather stiff.
Pour the batter into loaf tins.
Bake
Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted 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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Nutmeg + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together11,917 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Raisin + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,390 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
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Raisin + nutmegtop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,377 recipes
Shared aroma: alpha-terpineol (lilac, floral).
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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Milk + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,655 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
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, creamed with butter, helps give it a tender crumb.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and tenderness when creamed with the sugar.
- Eggs
- Provide structure and help bind the batter as it sets.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidity of the sour milk to produce gas that helps the cake rise.
- Sour milk
- Supplies moisture and acidity that activates the baking soda.
- Chopped raisins
- Add moisture and sweetness, along with bits of chewy texture.
The step that matters
Mixing the batter until well combined. Mixing is needed to evenly distribute the baking soda and acid so the cake rises evenly, but the batter should be stiff, not overworked, since excess mixing develops gluten and can toughen the crumb.
Swap the raisin
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, butter, milk, egg, nutmeg, cinnamon):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinthe original
- Figfits about as well
- Lemonfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, butter, milk, egg, nutmeg, cinnamon. 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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