Why it works: Milk and butter 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 ↓
Indian Pound Cake
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 the batter
Beat the eggs in a bowl.
Add the milk and dissolve the baking soda in it.
Mix in the butter and salt.
Gradually add enough cornmeal to create a stiff batter.
Bake
Grease square pans with butter and dust with flour.
Bake in a hot oven at 400°F (200°C) until done.
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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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Egg + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and add structure as the cake sets.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidity in the batter to help it rise.
- Cornmeal
- Forms the body of the cake and gives it a stiff, grainy texture.
- Milk
- Adds moisture and helps dissolve the baking soda evenly.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and tenderness in the crumb.
The step that matters
Dissolve the baking soda in the milk before mixing. Baking soda must be fully dissolved so it reacts evenly through the batter; undissolved pockets can cause uneven rising and bitter spots.
“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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