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 ↓
Layer Cake
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderate oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the batter
Cream together the sugar and butter.
Stir in the beaten egg.
Sift the baking powder with the flour and add it to the mixture.
Pour in the milk and beat well.
Marble and bake
Divide the mixture into two round cake tins.
For a marbled effect, mix one third of the batter with melted chocolate and another third with cochineal.
Alternate spoonfuls of the colored batters with the white batter in the pan.
Bake in a greased cake loaf pan at 400°F (200°C) for 20 minutes.
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.
-
Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Sugar + chocolatetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,404 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
-
Milk + chocolatetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,128 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).
-
Flour + milktop 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
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and, creamed with butter, traps air that lightens the crumb.
- Butter
- Adds fat for a tender texture and rich flavor, and creaming it traps air.
- Egg
- Binds the batter and sets during baking to give the cake structure.
- Flour
- Provides the main structure as its starch sets in the oven.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the batter, helping the cake rise.
- Milk
- Adds moisture and loosens the batter to a pourable consistency.
The step that matters
Cream the sugar and butter well. Beating sugar into butter traps air bubbles that help the cake rise and give a light crumb. If the mixture is under-creamed, the batter bakes up dense and heavy.
“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.
More layer cake recipes
You might also like
Chocolate Cream171 recipes
Chocolate Cookies76 recipes
Chocolate Fudge55 recipes
Chocolate Drop Cookies50 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.