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 ↓
Orange Cake
4 layersIngredients
Directions
Make the cake
Cream together one-half cup butter, 2 cups sugar, 1 cup milk, 2 cups flour, 4 eggs, 2 level teaspoons cream tartar, and 1 teaspoon soda.
Bake in layers; this quantity makes 4 layers.
Make the filling
Beat the whites of one egg stiff.
Combine the beaten whites with 1 cup powdered sugar, juice of 1 orange, and grated rind of 2.
Assemble
Spread the filling over the baked layers.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 6 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Milk | 1 cup (244ml) whole | 149 |
| 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 |
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.
-
Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
-
Milk + orangetop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,696 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
-
Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Butter
- Adds fat that makes the cake tender and rich.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cake and helps keep it moist and tender.
- Eggs
- Provide structure and richness to the cake, and whipped whites lighten the filling.
- Flour (in the method)
- Forms the structure that holds the cake layers together.
- Milk
- Adds moisture and softness to the batter.
- Orange
- Its juice and rind add acidity and bright citrus aroma to the filling.
The step that matters
Beat the egg whites stiff before combining. Whipped egg whites trap air, which gives the filling its light, fluffy body. If the whites are under-beaten, the filling will be dense and may weep.
Swap the orange
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, sugar, milk, egg, cream):
- Vanillafits better
- Strawberryfits better
- Coconutfits better
- Orangethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, sugar, milk, egg, cream. 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.
More orange cake recipes
You might also like
Orange Cream Rice Pudding121 recipes
Orange Gelatin100 recipes
Orange Sherbet73 recipes
Orange Custard56 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.