Why it works: Mace and nutmeg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,557 recipes. Both carry myristicin, which smells spice, warm. The science ↓
To Make a Rich Black Cake
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Make the batter
Preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C).
Beat the egg whites until frothy.
Cream the butter in a large bowl.
Gradually add the egg whites, one spoonful at a time, mixing well.
Add the powdered sugar in the same manner, mixing thoroughly.
Incorporate the beaten egg yolks into the mixture.
Fold in the flour and mixed dried fruit.
Add the mace, grated nutmeg, wine, and brandy.
Bake
Pour the batter into a prepared cake pan.
Bake for 5 hours and 15 minutes.
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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Mace + nutmegtop 4% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,557 recipes
Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
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Flour + nutmegtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,623 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Wine + brandytop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,427 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Butter + winetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,645 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).
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
- Eggs
- Whites add lift when beaten, and yolks enrich the batter and help bind it.
- Butter
- Creamed with sugar, it traps air and gives the cake a tender, rich crumb.
- Powdered sugar
- Sweetens the batter and dissolves smoothly into the creamed butter for a fine texture.
- All-purpose flour
- Provides the structure that holds the cake together as it bakes.
- Mixed dried fruit
- Adds moisture, sweetness and chewy texture throughout the cake.
- French brandy
- Adds aroma and flavor and helps keep the finished cake moist.
The step that matters
Adding the egg whites and sugar gradually. Adding them one spoonful at a time lets each addition blend in fully. Dumping them in at once can deflate the batter or cause it to separate, leaving a heavy, uneven crumb.
Swap the mace
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, butter, sugar, flour, nutmeg, wine, brandy):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Cardamomfits better
- Clovefits better
- Macethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, butter, sugar, flour, nutmeg, wine, 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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