Why it works: Currant and brandy are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,057 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. The science ↓
Very Rich Wedding 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
Sift the flour and set aside.
Wash and pick the currants.
Dry the currants by the fire.
Cream the butter by crushing it between your hands until smooth.
Make the batter
Beat the creamed butter with the powdered sugar for 15 minutes.
Beat the egg whites until stiff.
Fold the egg whites into the butter and sugar mixture.
Beat the egg yolks for 30 minutes.
Mix the beaten yolks into the mixture.
Add the flour and nutmeg.
Mix until combined.
Pour in the brandy.
Add citron to taste.
Bake
Pour the batter into a baking tin.
Bake in a preheated oven at 350°F (175°C) until risen and browned.
Cover with paper to prevent burning.
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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Currant + brandytop 7% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,057 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
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Flour + nutmegtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,623 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Nutmeg + brandytop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,311 recipes
Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
Flour and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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
- Fine flour
- Forms the structure that holds the cake together as it bakes.
- Fresh butter
- Adds richness and tenderness and carries flavour through the batter.
- Powdered sugar
- Sweetens the batter and helps trap air when beaten with the butter.
- Eggs
- Whites add lift when whipped; yolks add richness and help set the crumb.
- Currants
- Provide fruitiness and moisture to the cake.
- Brandy
- Adds aroma and flavour to the batter.
The step that matters
Fold the egg whites into the butter and sugar mixture. Whipped whites hold air that gives the cake its rise. Folding gently, rather than stirring, keeps that air in the batter so the cake does not turn dense.
Swap the currant
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, butter, sugar, nutmeg, egg, brandy):
- Raisinfits better
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Currantthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, butter, sugar, nutmeg, egg, brandy. 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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