Why it works: Flour and buttermilk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,721 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Joe Wheeler White 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.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Dissolve the baking soda in the buttermilk.
Make the batter
In a large bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.
Gradually add the sugar to the egg whites and beat until well combined.
Cream the butter in a separate bowl until smooth, then add it to the egg mixture.
Mix the baking powder and cream of tartar into the flour.
Alternately add the flour mixture and buttermilk to the egg mixture, stirring until just combined.
Bake and finish
Pour the batter into a long pan and bake until golden.
Let cool and frost with icing.
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 + buttermilktop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,721 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Sugar + buttermilktop 9% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,973 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Cream + buttermilktop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together674 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Egg whites
- Whipped into a foam that gives the cake its airy structure.
- All-purpose flour
- Provides the protein and starch that set the cake's structure as it bakes.
- Granulated sugar
- Sweetens the cake and helps the beaten whites hold a fine, even crumb.
- Buttermilk
- Adds moisture and tenderness, and its acidity reacts with the baking soda.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acid in buttermilk to release gas, helping the cake rise.
- Cream of tartar
- Acidifies the egg whites, helping the foam stay stable while whipping.
The step that matters
Alternately add the flour mixture and buttermilk, stirring until just combined. Stirring only until combined keeps gluten development low, so the cake stays tender rather than tough. Overmixing toughens the crumb and can deflate the whipped egg whites, which is why the batter should be folded gently and stopped as soon as the ingredients are blended.
“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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