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 ↓
Mountain 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
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Cream the butter in a mixing bowl.
Mix the batter
Add the sugar, sweet milk, and corn-starch to the butter and mix well.
In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.
Alternately add the beaten egg whites and flour to the butter mixture.
Sift the cream of tartar with the flour before adding.
Dissolve the baking soda in the milk and add it to the mixture.
Finally, stir in the vanilla.
Bake and finish
Pour the batter into a greased loaf pan and bake until golden brown.
Once cooled, layer with Philadelphia Chocolate Icing or thick custard between the cakes and frost the top.
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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Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,187 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Corn + vanillatop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,943 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
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
- Whipped whites trap air, giving the cake its light, airy structure.
- Flour
- Its proteins set during baking to form the cake's main structure.
- Butter
- Adds fat that tenderizes the crumb and carries richness and flavor.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with acidic ingredients to produce gas that helps the cake rise.
- Cream of tartar
- Adds acidity that stabilizes whipped egg whites and activates the baking soda.
- Corn-starch
- Lightens the flour's gluten, producing a softer, more tender crumb.
The step that matters
Alternately add the beaten egg whites and flour. Fold gently and stop once combined. Vigorous stirring deflates the whipped egg white foam and develops gluten, leaving the cake dense and tough instead of light.
“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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