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 ↓
Corn Starch 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.
Make the batter
Cream together the sugar and butter.
Beat the egg whites and yolks separately, then mix and beat them until thick.
Incorporate the egg mixture into the butter and sugar, then stir in the milk.
Dissolve the baking soda in 1 tablespoon of hot water and add it to the mixture.
Sift the flour, corn starch, and cream of tartar together twice, then mix into the batter until smooth.
Bake and serve
Pour the batter into small, scalloped pans and bake at 350°F (175°C) until done.
Serve the cakes the same day, as they are best enjoyed fresh, especially with ice cream.
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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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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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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Milk + corntop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,955 recipes
Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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
- Eggs
- Whipped separately, they add air and structure to the batter as it sets in the oven.
- Corn starch
- Tenderises the crumb, giving a fine, delicate texture compared with flour alone.
- Flour
- Provides the main structure that holds the cake together as it bakes.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acid in the batter to produce gas, helping the cakes rise.
- Cream of tartar
- Acidifies the batter, supporting the baking soda reaction and stabilising the texture.
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness, contributing tenderness and flavour to the crumb.
The step that matters
Beat the egg whites and yolks separately, then mix and beat until thick. Whipping the whites and yolks separately traps air that lifts the batter. Over-beating or deflating the foam before baking leaves a dense cake with less rise.
“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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