Why it works: Butter and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Iroquois 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 the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Cream the butter and powdered sugar together until light and fluffy.
Add the egg whites and mix well.
In a separate bowl, combine the flour and baking powder.
Gradually add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, alternating with the milk.
Stir in the lemon extract.
Bake and cool
Divide the batter between two greased cake pans.
Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Let cool before icing with your preferred filling.
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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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 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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Milk + lemontop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,053 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, 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
- Creamed with sugar to trap air, giving the cake a tender, rich crumb.
- Flour
- Forms the structure that holds the cake together as it bakes.
- Powdered sugar
- Sweetens the batter and helps the creamed butter become light and fluffy.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the heat, causing the batter to rise and become airy.
- Egg whites
- Add structure and help bind the batter while contributing lift.
- Milk
- Adds moisture and loosens the batter for a softer texture.
The step that matters
Alternating the flour mixture with the milk. Adding flour in portions alongside the liquid keeps the batter smooth and evenly emulsified. Overmixing after the flour goes in develops gluten, which can make the cake tough.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, flour, sugar, egg, milk):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits better
- Figfits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, flour, sugar, egg, milk. 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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