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
Make the batter
Cream the butter by crushing it between your hands until smooth.
Sift the powdered sugar and mix it with the creamed butter for 15 minutes.
Beat the egg whites until stiff and fold them into the butter and sugar mixture.
Beat the egg yolks for 30 minutes and mix them in.
Add the flour and nutmeg, and mix well.
Pour in the brandy and add citron to taste.
Bake
Pour the batter into a baking tin.
Bake until risen and browned, then 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.
-
Currant + brandytop 7% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,057 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
-
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).
-
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
- Provides the structure that sets the cake as it bakes.
- Fresh butter
- Adds richness and tenderness, and carries air beaten into the batter.
- Powdered sugar
- Sweetens the batter and helps create a fine, tender crumb when creamed with butter.
- Eggs
- Add structure and lift; whipped whites trap air that helps the cake rise.
- Currants
- Add fruitiness and chewy texture throughout the cake.
The step that matters
Covering the cake while it bakes. Once the top has risen and browned, it can scorch before the centre is fully set. Covering it with paper shields the surface from direct heat while the interior finishes cooking.
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.
More wedding cake recipes
You might also like
Brandy Peaches68 recipes
Red Currant Jelly65 recipes
Currant Ice Cream32 recipes
Brandy Cream21 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.