Why it works: Flour and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 78,219 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Pound Cakes
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
Make the batter
In a bowl, whisk the eggs until well beaten.
Add the sugar to the eggs and whisk together until combined.
Dissolve the volatile salts in the milk and add to the mixture.
Incorporate the flour and currants, mixing until just combined.
Bake
Pour the batter into small square tins.
Bake in the preheated oven until golden brown.
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 + 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).
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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Milk + curranttop 16% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together5,475 recipes
Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).
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Egg + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Flour and milk barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 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
- All-purpose flour
- Forms the main structure that holds the cake's crumb together as it bakes.
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and set during baking to give structure and a light, tender crumb.
- Granulated sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps give the cake a tender texture and golden browning.
- Volatile salts
- Release gas as they heat, helping the cake rise and become light.
- Milk
- Adds moisture and liquid so the flour hydrates and the batter can flow.
- Currants
- Add sweetness, chewy texture and fruity flavour throughout the cake.
The step that matters
Mixing the flour and currants until just combined. Once flour is hydrated, overmixing develops gluten, which makes the cake tough and dense. Stopping as soon as the flour disappears keeps the crumb tender.
Swap the currant
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, egg, milk, sugar):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits better
- Figfits better
- Currantthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, egg, milk, sugar. 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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