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 ↓
Delicate Cake II
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.
Make the batter
Cream the powdered sugar and softened butter together until light and fluffy.
Add the sweet milk and mix well.
Gradually add the sifted flour and baking powder, mixing until combined.
Fold in the almond extract and beaten egg whites gently until just incorporated.
Bake
Pour the batter into a greased cake pan and bake at 350°F (175°C) 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.
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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Flour + almondtop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,673 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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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 + almondtop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,245 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 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
- Egg whites
- Whipped to stiff foam that traps air, giving the cake its light, airy crumb.
- All-purpose flour
- Forms the gluten network and sets the structure of the cake as it bakes.
- Butter
- Creamed with the sugar to trap air and add richness and tender texture.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the batter, helping the cake rise in the oven.
- Powdered sugar
- Sweetens the cake and, creamed with butter, helps build a light, fluffy base.
The step that matters
Fold in the egg whites gently. Stiff whipped egg whites hold the air that lifts the cake. Vigorous stirring deflates them, leading to a dense, flat result, so fold just until no white streaks remain.
“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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