Name: Almond Cake
Ingredients: 1 cup butter; 2 cups sugar; 3 cups flour; 1 cup sweet milk; 8 egg whites; 1 teaspoon cream of tartar; ½ teaspoon baking soda; 2 pounds blanched almonds, powdered fine in rose water

Why it works: Flour and almond are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,673 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Almond 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 together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
Add the flour, sweet milk, egg whites, cream of tartar, and baking soda. Mix until well combined.
Fold in the powdered almonds mixed with rose water.

Bake and serve

Pour the batter into a greased cake pan and bake for about 30-40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Let the cake cool before serving.

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.

Flour + almondtop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together8,673 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together81,283 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together41,516 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together43,450 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
Butter + almondtop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together9,245 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Butter: Adds fat and richness, and creaming it with sugar traps air for a tender crumb.
Sugar: Sweetens the cake and helps create a light, fluffy texture when creamed with butter.
Flour: Provides the structure that holds the cake together as it bakes.
Egg whites: Add structure and lift to the batter as they set in the oven.
Cream of tartar: Stabilizes the egg whites and helps keep the batter light.
Baking soda: Reacts with the batter's acidity to produce gas that helps the cake rise.
Blanched almonds: Contribute nutty flavor, moisture, and body to the crumb.