Why it works: Cream and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Orange Cake
Ingredients
Directions
Make the cake
Cream butter and sugar.
Add beaten yolks of eggs, salt, and grated rind of orange.
Beat in orange juice and flour sifted with baking powder.
Fold in stiffly whipped whites of eggs.
Bake in loaf.
Make the frosting
When cool, spread with orange frosting.
Mix orange juice and grated peel with powdered sugar to make stiff frosting.
Make the filling
Juice 1 orange, 1 1/4 e sugar 14, grated rind 1 tsp butter, yolks 2 eggs; beat eggs, add sugar, grated rind, butter, and orange juice.
Cook over hot water, stirring until thickened.
Spread between layers of cake.
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 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Orange | 1 medium (131g) | 62 |
| Cream | 1 tbsp (15ml) heavy | 51 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| 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.
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. See the original page.
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.
-
Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
-
Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
-
Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
-
Sugar + orangetop 20% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together19,212 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Sugar and orange barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 19,212 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
- Yolks add richness and colour, while whipped whites lighten the batter and add lift.
- Butter
- Creaming with sugar traps air and adds fat for a tender crumb.
- Flour (in the method)
- Provides the structure that sets the cake as it bakes.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the batter, helping the cake rise.
- Orange juice
- Adds moisture and bright citrus acidity and flavour.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cake and helps hold air when creamed with butter.
The step that matters
Fold in the whipped egg whites gently. The whites hold air that makes the cake rise. Stirring or beating them in vigorously deflates the foam, so the cake rises less and turns out denser.
Swap the orange
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cream, butter, egg, sugar):
- Vanillafits better
- Strawberryfits better
- Raspberryfits better
- Orangethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against cream, butter, egg, sugar. 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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