Why it works: Cinnamon and almond match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,514 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓
Almond Nut Cake
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a bowl, cream together the butter and coffee sugar.
Add the egg and mix well.
Stir in the chopped raisins, almonds, cinnamon, and baking soda dissolved in buttermilk.
Gradually add flour until the batter thickens.
Bake and finish
Pour the batter into a square baking pan.
Bake until golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean.
Let cool and ice as desired.
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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Cinnamon + almondtop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together3,514 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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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 + almondtop 2% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,781 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).
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Sugar + buttermilktop 9% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,973 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together30,779 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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
- Creams with the sugar to trap air and add richness and tenderness to the cake.
- Egg
- Binds the batter and adds structure as it sets in the oven.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the buttermilk to release gas, helping the cake rise.
- Buttermilk
- Its acidity activates the baking soda and keeps the crumb moist and tender.
- Flour
- Provides the structure that sets the batter into a cake as it bakes.
- Almonds
- Add texture and a nutty flavor that complements the cake.
The step that matters
Gradually add flour until the batter thickens. Adding too much flour or mixing it vigorously develops gluten and makes the cake dense and tough. Adding it gradually and stopping once the batter thickens keeps the crumb tender.
Swap the raisin
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, coffee, sugar, butter, cinnamon, almond, buttermilk):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinthe original
- Figfits about as well
- Coconutfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, coffee, sugar, butter, cinnamon, almond, buttermilk. 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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