Why it works: Sugar and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 92,116 recipes. Both carry phenylacetaldehyde, which smells hawthorne, honey. The science ↓
Sunshine Cake
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a cool oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C).
Make the batter
Cream the egg yolks and sugar together until light and fluffy.
In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.
Gently fold the egg whites into the yolk mixture.
Sift the flour and baking powder together, then fold into the batter.
Bake
Pour the batter into angel food cake pans and bake until golden.
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 + flourtop 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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Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Flour and egg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 106,462 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
- Egg yolks
- Add richness, moisture and a tender crumb to the batter.
- Egg whites
- Whipped to stiff peaks, they trap air that gives the cake its light lift.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the yolks become light and fluffy when creamed.
- Flour
- Provides the structure that holds the cake together as it bakes.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas as it reacts in the batter, helping the cake rise.
The step that matters
Gently fold the egg whites into the yolk mixture. Whipped egg whites hold air that gives the cake its lift. Stirring vigorously or overmixing deflates the foam, so the cake bakes up dense instead of light.
“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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