Why it works: Milk and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,187 recipes. Both carry ethyl caproate, which smells fruity, apple peel. The science ↓
Gold 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.
Prepare
Line a cake pan with buttered paper.
Sift together 1 cup of flour and 1 teaspoon of baking powder.
Make the batter
Beat 2 heaping tablespoons of butter until creamy.
Add ½ pound of granulated sugar and beat until combined.
Beat the yolks of 6 eggs until creamy. Stir the yolks into the butter and sugar mixture.
Add ½ cup of milk and 1 cup of flour (not mixed with baking powder) to the mixture. Stir the mixture well.
Quickly add the sifted flour with baking powder and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
Bake
Bake in a 350°F (175°C) oven for about 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center 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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Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,187 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
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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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Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + vanillatop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,241 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 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 to the batter, helping it set when baked.
- Butter
- Creamed with sugar to trap air and add fat for a tender crumb.
- Granulated sugar
- Creamed with butter to add sweetness and help create a light texture.
- All-purpose flour
- Provides the main structure of the cake as it sets in the oven.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the batter so the cake rises during baking.
The step that matters
Quickly add the sifted flour with baking powder. Baking powder starts releasing gas as soon as it is wet, so the flour should be added and the batter moved to the pan without delay to keep the rise strong.
Swap the vanilla
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, butter, sugar, egg, milk):
- Vanillathe original
- Raisinfits about as well
- Figfits less well
- Coconutfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, butter, 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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