Why it works: Milk and butter 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 ↓
Indian Loaf Cake
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the batter
Mix the powdered sugar with the milk and cut the butter into the mixture.
Heat the mixture in a pan until scalding hot.
Stir in enough yellow Indian meal to achieve a thick, mush-like consistency.
Beat the mixture vigorously for 15 minutes and let it cool.
Once warm, beat the eggs lightly and gradually stir them into the mixture.
Add the yeast and beat the mixture for another 15 minutes.
Rise and bake
Prepare a well-buttered tin mold or earthen pan with a pipe in the center.
Pour the mixture into the mold, cover it, and let it rise in a warm place for about 4 hours.
Bake in a preheated oven at 350°F (175°C) for 2 hours.
Turn the cake out with the broad surface downwards and serve hot, sliced with butter.
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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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Sugar + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Sugar and milk barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 77,875 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
- Eggs
- Add richness and structure, helping the cake hold its shape after baking.
- Yellow indian meal
- Forms the thick, mush-like body that gives the cake its bulk and texture.
- Yeast
- Produces gas during the long rise, leavening the batter so it becomes light.
- Butter
- Adds fat for tenderness and flavour, and moisture in the crumb.
- Rich milk
- Provides liquid and fat that cook with the meal into a soft, moist crumb.
The step that matters
Beating the mixture after adding the meal. Vigorous beating for 15 minutes develops an even, smooth batter; with yeast, the later beating also distributes the cells that will drive the rise.
“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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