Why it works: Orange and tea work together. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 333 recipes. Both carry 3-hexenal, which smells apple, fruity. The science ↓
Orange Cake
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
Combine two cups sugar, two cups flour, two cups cold water, yolks of five eggs, whites of three eggs, juice and grated rind of one orange, and two teaspoons baking powder.
Beat the yolks very lightly, then add sugar and water.
After beating thoroughly, add the other ingredients.
Stir in the lightly beaten whites last.
Bake and fill
Bake in layer tins.
Make a cream filling flavored with grated rind of an orange.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 4 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Orange | 1 medium (131g) | 62 |
| 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.
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Orange + teatop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together333 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
-
Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
-
Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Sugar + orangetop 20% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together19,212 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
-
Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Flour and egg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 106,462 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 batter and helps keep the cake tender and moist.
- Flour
- Provides the structure that sets as the cake bakes.
- Eggs
- Yolks add richness and binding, while beaten whites add lift and structure.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas during baking, making the cake rise.
- Orange
- Juice adds acidity and brightness, while the rind adds aroma.
The step that matters
Stir in the lightly beaten whites last. Gentle folding at the end keeps the air trapped in the whites, which helps the cake rise and stay light. Overmixing knocks out that air and leaves a denser crumb.
Swap the orange
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, flour, egg, tea):
- Raisinfits better
- Vanillafits better
- Lemonfits better
- Orangethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, flour, egg, tea. 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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