Why it works: Lemon and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,318 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓
Rice Pound 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. The book gives no cooking times either; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare the batter
Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a large bowl, cream the butter and powdered sugar until light and fluffy.
Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
Gradually add the all-purpose flour and rice flour, mixing until just combined.
If desired, fold in currants, lemon or orange peel, nutmeg, and mace.
Bake
Pour the batter into a greased and papered cake pan.
Bake for about 1 hour, or until a toothpick inserted in the center 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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Lemon + nutmegtop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together11,318 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Flour + nutmegtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,623 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Rice + nutmegtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,779 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Rice + lemontop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,366 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Butter and flour 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
- Butter
- Creaming with sugar traps air, giving the cake a light, tender crumb and rich flavor.
- Eggs
- Provide structure and richness, binding the batter as they set in the oven.
- All-purpose flour
- Forms the main gluten structure that gives the cake its body and holds its shape.
- Rice flour
- Adds a fine, delicate texture since it contains little gluten, keeping the crumb tender.
- Powdered sugar
- Dissolves easily into the butter, adding sweetness and helping create a fine, even crumb.
The step that matters
Adding the eggs one at a time. Eggs added too quickly can fail to emulsify into the creamed butter and sugar, causing the batter to curdle or separate. Adding them gradually and mixing well after each keeps the batter smooth and helps it rise evenly.
Swap the currant
The recipe marks currant as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, sugar, flour, rice, egg, lemon, nutmeg):
- Raisinfits better
- Vanillafits better
- Coconutfits better
- Currantthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, sugar, flour, rice, egg, lemon, nutmeg. 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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