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 ↓
White 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.
Prepare the batter
Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
Add the sweet milk and mix well.
In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.
Combine the flour, cream of tartar, and baking soda in another bowl.
Gradually add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture, then fold in the beaten egg whites.
Bake
Pour the batter into prepared cake pans and bake at 350°F (175°C) until a toothpick comes out clean.
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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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 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
- Butter
- Creaming with sugar traps air and adds richness and tender texture to the crumb.
- Sugar
- Creams with butter for aeration and adds sweetness and a tender, browned crust.
- Egg whites
- Whipped to stiff peaks, they trap air that gives the cake lift and a light structure.
- Flour
- Provides the structure that sets as the cake bakes and holds its shape.
- Cream of tartar
- Stabilizes whipped egg whites and works with baking soda to help the cake rise.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic cream of tartar to release gas that leavens the batter.
The step that matters
Folding in the beaten egg whites. Stirring too vigorously deflates the whipped foam that gives the cake its lift. Fold gently, just until no white streaks remain, so the batter keeps its trapped air while baking.
“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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