Why it works: Butter and milk 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 ↓
Walnut 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 the batter
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Cream the butter, then gradually add the sugar.
Add the beaten egg yolks and mix well.
Sift the baking powder with the flour and add it alternately with the milk.
Reserve ½ cup of flour and mix it with the walnuts.
Fold the floured walnuts into the batter, then gently fold in the beaten egg whites.
Bake and finish
Pour the batter into a greased cake pan and bake for 45 minutes.
Once cooled, cover with frosting and top with walnuts.
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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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + walnuttop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,873 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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
- Butter
- Creaming with sugar traps air and adds richness and a tender crumb.
- Flour
- Provides the structure that holds the cake together as it bakes.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the batter brown and stay moist.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas during baking so the cake rises and becomes light.
- Egg yolks
- Add richness, moisture and emulsifying fat to the batter.
- Egg whites
- Whipped and folded in, they add lift and an airy texture.
The step that matters
Folding in the egg whites. Stirring beaten egg whites vigorously knocks out the air they hold, leading to a denser cake. Folding gently keeps the batter light so it rises well in the oven.
Swap the walnut
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, flour, sugar, milk, egg):
- Almondfits better
- Chestnutfits about as well
- Milletfits about as well
- Walnutthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, flour, sugar, milk, egg. 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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