Why it works: Canola oil and lemon work together. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 376 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓
Lemon Cake
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
Combine sugar and eggs.
Add lemon rind, then oil.
Fold in the flour alternately with the milk.
Bake
Bake in a 23 cm round or similar size square cake tin at 180 °C oven for about 40 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.
Check after 40 minutes and see if it needs longer.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 6 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Milk | 1 cup (244ml) whole | 149 |
| Olive Oil | 1 tbsp (14g) | 119 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Lemon | juice of 1 lemon (48ml) | 12 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.
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.
-
Canola oil + lemontop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together376 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
-
Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
-
Milk + lemontop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,053 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Milk and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 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
- Bind the batter and add structure as the cake sets.
- Self-raising flour
- Forms the cake's main structure and, with its raising agent, lets it rise.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cake and helps give it a tender crumb.
- Canola oil
- Adds moisture and keeps the crumb soft.
- Milk
- Adds moisture and hydrates the flour to form the batter.
The step that matters
Folding in the flour alternately with the milk. Overmixing once flour is added develops gluten, which can make the cake tough. Folding gently and stopping once combined keeps the crumb tender.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, milk, canola oil, sugar, flour):
- Vanillafits better
- Coconutfits about as well
- Raisinfits about as well
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, milk, canola oil, sugar, flour. 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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