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 ↓
Coffee Cake
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C).
Make the batter
In a bowl, mix the butter and sugar together until creamy.
Add the molasses, coffee, ground cloves, and ground cinnamon; mix well.
Stir in the flour and baking soda until combined.
Toss the raisins in a little flour to prevent sinking, then fold them into the batter.
Bake
Pour the batter into a greased pan and bake slowly at first until a toothpick 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.
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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Raisin + flourtop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together9,075 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Raisin + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,390 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
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Cinnamon + flourtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,341 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Raisin + clovetop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,070 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Flour
- Forms the structure that holds the cake together as it bakes.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic molasses and coffee to lift the batter and help it rise.
- Butter
- Adds fat for a tender crumb and rich flavor.
- Molasses
- Adds sweetness, dark color, and moisture to the cake.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the batter and helps it brown and hold moisture.
- Raisins
- Add pockets of chewy sweetness throughout the cake.
The step that matters
Tossing the raisins in flour. Coating the raisins in a little flour helps them stay suspended in the batter instead of sinking to the bottom during baking.
Swap the clove
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, molasses, butter, coffee, raisin, cinnamon, flour):
- Nutmegfits better
- Cardamomfits about as well
- Clovethe original
- Allspicefits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, molasses, butter, coffee, raisin, 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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