Why it works: Sugar and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 35,032 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Cheap Sponge 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
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Make the batter
Beat the egg yolks and sugar together until well combined.
Add the cold water and flour to the yolk mixture and stir until smooth.
In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until frothy.
Gently fold the beaten egg whites into the yolk mixture.
Dissolve the baking soda in a little water and add it to the batter.
Flavor with vanilla or lemon essence.
Bake
Pour the batter into a greased cake pan and bake for about 1 hour.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Flour + vanillatop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,241 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, 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
- Eggs
- Whipped whites trap air and give the cake its light, airy structure, while yolks add richness.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cake and helps the egg yolks combine smoothly into the batter.
- Flour
- Forms the cake's structure once it sets in the oven.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the batter to produce gas that helps the cake rise.
The step that matters
Folding in the egg whites. Stirring vigorously knocks out the air trapped in the whipped whites, so the cake rises less and turns dense. Fold gently with a spatula, cutting through and turning the batter until just combined.
Swap the vanilla
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar, flour):
- Raisinfits better
- Vanillathe original
- Lemonfits less well
- Figfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sugar, flour. 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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