Why it works: Butter and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Pound 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. 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
Preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C).
Make the batter
In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar together until creamy.
Add the egg yolks and mix until light.
In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.
Gently fold the egg whites into the butter mixture.
Gradually add the flour, mixing until just combined.
Stir in the grated lemon rind and juice.
Bake
Pour the batter into a greased loaf pan and bake for about 1 hour or until a toothpick 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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Butter + lemontop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,227 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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Flour + lemontop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together30,404 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
- Creams with sugar to trap air and adds richness and a tender crumb.
- Eggs
- Yolks add richness and emulsify the batter; whites whipped to stiff peaks give lift and structure.
- Flour
- Provides the structure that sets the cake as its proteins and starches cook.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cake and, creamed with butter, helps create a light, aerated texture.
- Lemon
- Rind and juice add aroma and a bright acidity that balances the richness.
The step that matters
Folding the egg whites into the butter mixture. Stiff whites hold air that gives the cake its lift. Folding gently, rather than stirring, keeps that air from collapsing, which would leave a dense, heavy cake.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, flour, sugar, egg):
- Raisinfits better
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits about as well
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, flour, sugar, egg. 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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