Name: Queen Cup Cakes
Ingredients: 4 tablespoons rendered hen fat; 1 cup light brown sugar; 1 large egg; ¾ cup sweet milk; 1¼ cups flour; 3 teaspoons baking powder; 1 teaspoon vanilla extract; Few grains of salt

Why it works: Milk and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,187 recipes. Both carry ethyl caproate, which smells fruity, apple peel. The science ↓

Queen Cup Cakes

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

Soften the hen fat.
In a bowl, combine all ingredients in the order given. Beat the mixture for 5 minutes.

Bake and fill

Bake in greased and flour-dusted muffin tins.
Once done, remove from pans and cool.
After cooling, cut each cupcake in half to create two layers.
Spread a generous amount of 'Date Nut Filling' between the layers.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together19,187 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together35,032 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Flour + vanillatop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together19,241 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together78,219 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together92,116 recipes

Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).

Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 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

Eggs: Binds the batter and adds structure as it sets in the oven.
Baking powder: Releases gas during baking so the cupcakes rise and turn light.
Flour: Forms the structure that holds the cupcakes together as they bake.
Light brown sugar: Sweetens the batter and adds moisture and a softer crumb.
Hen fat: Provides fat that tenderizes the crumb and adds richness.