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Dessert

Black Walnut Christmas Cake

A moist cake made with butter, eggs, flour, sugar, vanilla, baking powder, milk, and black walnuts.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Vanilla and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,187 recipes. Both carry ethyl caproate, which smells fruity, apple peel. The science ↓

Black Walnut Christmas Cake

Oven350 degrees
Time50 to 60 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Make the batter

  1. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

  2. Beat in egg yolks all at once.

  3. Add vanilla.

  4. Sift dry ingredients together, then set aside 1 cup of the dry ingredients.

  5. Add the remaining flour mixture and the milk in small portions, alternately, mixing well with each addition, starting and ending with an addition of the dry ingredients.

  6. Mix together the reserved flour and the nuts, and stir into the batter, mixing just until blended.

  7. Beat the egg whites until stiff, but not dry, then fold them into the batter.

Bake and finish

  1. Bake in a 9 x 5 x 3" greased and floured loaf pan, or 3 quart mold at 350 degrees about 50 to 60 minutes, or until done.

  2. Frost with your favorite icing.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

871Calories
28 gProtein
29 gFat
121 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 8 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Black Walnut1 walnut half (4g)26
Vanilla1 tsp extract (4ml)12
Salt1 tsp (6g)0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

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.

  1. Vanilla + milktop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,187 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

  2. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  3. Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together35,032 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  4. Vanilla + walnuttop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,730 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  5. Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together124,287 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 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 gives the cake a tender, rich crumb.
Egg
Yolks add richness and structure, while whipped whites lighten the batter and help it rise.
Flour
Provides the structure that holds the cake together as it bakes.
Baking powder
Releases gas during baking so the cake rises and becomes light.
Sugar
Sweetens the cake and helps it brown while creaming aerates the batter.
Black walnuts
Add nutty flavor and a bit of texture throughout the crumb.

The step that matters

Folding in the egg whites. Whites beaten until stiff hold air that lightens the batter. Folding gently keeps that air in; vigorous stirring deflates it, leaving a dense cake.

Swap the walnut

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, egg, flour, sugar, vanilla, milk):

  1. Almondfits better
  2. Chestnutfits better
  3. Hazelnutfits better
  4. Walnutthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, egg, flour, sugar, vanilla, milk. 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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