Why it works: Sugar and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 43,450 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓
Sunshine Cake
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a slow 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).
Beat the egg whites to a stiff froth.
Gradually add the sugar to the egg whites.
Beat the yolks well in a separate bowl.
Combine the yolks with the egg whites and sugar.
Add the orange extract.
Gently stir in the sifted flour until well mixed.
Bake and cool
Pour the batter into a pan with little legs at the upper corners.
Bake for 50 minutes without greasing the pan.
After baking, turn the pan upside down to cool.
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 + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Flour + sugartop 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).
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Sugar + orangetop 20% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together19,212 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Flour + creamtop 20% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together30,481 recipes
Shared aroma: acetaldehyde (pungent, ethereal).
Egg and flour 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 whites
- Whipped into a stiff foam that gives the cake its light, airy structure.
- Egg yolks
- Add richness and moisture and help bind the batter.
- All-purpose flour
- Provides the starch that sets during baking to hold the cake's structure.
- Granulated sugar
- Sweetens the batter and helps stabilize the whipped egg whites.
- Cream of tartar
- Stabilizes the whipped egg whites so the foam holds its volume.
The step that matters
Beat the egg whites to a stiff froth. Underwhipped whites will not hold enough air to lift the batter, while overwhipped whites turn dry and grainy and collapse when folded. Gradual sugar and cream of tartar help the foam stay stable through baking.
Swap the orange
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, flour, sugar, cream):
- Raisinfits better
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Orangethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, flour, sugar, cream. 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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