Why it works: Flour and almond are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,673 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Almond Sponge Cake
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the egg and sugar base
Whip the eggs thoroughly for about 10 minutes.
Boil the sugar in water until it becomes brittle when cooled.
Pour the hot sugar mixture onto the whipped eggs and continue whipping for 15 to 20 minutes.
Mix and bake
Sift together the flour and baking powder, then add to the egg mixture along with the almond extract.
Mix thoroughly and pour into a well-buttered pan.
Bake in a preheated oven at 400°F (200°C) for 30 minutes.
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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Flour + almondtop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,673 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Almond + buttertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,245 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 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).
Flour and butter 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
- Eggs
- Whipped to trap air, giving the sponge its light, airy structure.
- Granulated sugar
- Sweetens the cake and, boiled to a syrup, adds body and helps the crumb set.
- All-purpose flour
- Provides the starch and gluten that set the sponge's structure as it bakes.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the oven to help the batter rise.
The step that matters
Pour the hot sugar mixture onto the whipped eggs and keep whipping. The hot syrup must be poured in a thin stream while whipping continuously so the eggs foam evenly without cooking or deflating. Stopping early leaves the batter dense.
“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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