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 ↓
Orange Cake
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a slow oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the batter
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Beat the eggs until very light.
Mix in the sugar and creamed butter.
Pour in half the milk.
Dissolve the cream of tartar and baking soda in the other half of the milk.
Quickly add the sifted flour after pouring in the foaming milk.
Bake and ice
Bake in jelly‑cake pans until done.
Grate the peel and squeeze the juice of the oranges.
Mix the orange juice with 2 pounds of powdered sugar to make icing.
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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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour and butter 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
- Beaten until light, they trap air that helps the cake rise and gives it a soft structure.
- Flour
- Forms the main structure that sets as the cake bakes.
- Butter
- Adds fat for tenderness and a rich texture.
- Cream of tartar and baking soda
- React with the milk to produce gas that lifts the batter as it bakes.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cake and helps keep it moist and tender.
The step that matters
Quickly add the sifted flour after pouring in the foaming milk. The cream of tartar and baking soda react with the milk to release gas right away. Delaying the flour lets that gas escape, so the cake rises less well.
Swap the orange
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar, flour, butter, milk, cream):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits better
- Coconutfits better
- Orangethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sugar, flour, butter, milk, 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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