Why it works: Sugar and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 92,116 recipes. Both carry phenylacetaldehyde, which smells hawthorne, honey. The science ↓
Lady Fingers
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the dough
Beat the yolks of 5 eggs until light.
Mix in 1 cup of white sugar and 1 teaspoon of baking powder.
Add enough flour to roll the mixture thin.
Shape and bake
Cut the dough into strips the size of a finger.
Place the strips on a baking pan without letting them touch.
Bake in a 400°F (200°C) oven, watching closely to prevent scorching.
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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Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Egg and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 106,462 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
- Egg yolks
- Add richness and structure, helping the batter bind and set as it bakes.
- White sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the surface brown as it bakes.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas when heated, helping the dough rise and turn light.
The step that matters
Baking with close watching. Thin strips brown quickly because they have little mass and high surface area, so they can scorch before the centre is set. Watching closely and spacing them apart lets heat reach each piece evenly.
“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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