Why it works: Sugar and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 35,032 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Guilt-free Pound Cake
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
Cream sugar and margarine at medium speed of an electric mixer until combined.
Gradually add egg substitute, beating well.
Combine sour cream and baking soda; stir well, and set aside.
Combine flour and salt; with mixer running at low speed, add to creamed mixture alternately with sour cream mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture.
Stir in vanilla.
Bake and cool
Spoon batter into a 10-inch tube pan coated with cooking spray.
Bake at 325 °F for 1 hour and 35 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Cool in pan 10 minutes; remove from pan.
Cool on a wire rack.
Variations
Egg whites can replace egg substitute; add one at a time to batter.
Instead of or in addition to 2 tsp vanilla extract, use these variations to cater to your family's preferences.
Lemon pound cake – add 1 tsp grated lemon rind with vanilla extract.
Coconut pound cake – add 1 tsp coconut flavoring, and decrease vanilla extract to 1 tsp.
Almond pound cake – add 1 tsp almond extract, and decrease vanilla extract to 1 tsp.
Butter rum pound cake – add 1 tsp butter flavoring and 1 tsp rum flavoring, and decrease vanilla extract to 1 tsp.
Butter pound cake – add 1 tsp butter flavoring, and decrease vanilla extract to 1 tsp.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 7 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Yogurt | 170g plain Greek | 100 |
| Egg Substitute | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Vanilla | 1 tsp extract (4ml) | 12 |
| Salt | 1 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.
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.
-
Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
-
Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
-
Flour + vanillatop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,241 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
-
Cream + vanillatop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together12,301 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).
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
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cake and, creamed with fat, traps air for a tender crumb.
- Margarine
- Provides fat for tenderness and richness, and creaming helps aerate the batter.
- Egg substitute
- Provides structure and binding, helping the batter hold together as it bakes.
- Sour cream
- Adds moisture and acidity, producing a tender, moist crumb.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the sour cream's acidity to produce gas that helps the cake rise.
- Cake flour
- Forms the cake's structure; its low protein gives a fine, tender crumb.
The step that matters
Adding the flour and sour cream mixtures alternately. Mixing at low speed and starting and ending with flour keeps gluten development limited and the batter emulsified, so the cake stays tender rather than tough or dense.
Swap the vanilla
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, egg, cream, flour):
- Raisinfits about as well
- Vanillathe original
- Figfits less well
- Strawberryfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, egg, cream, 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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