Why it works: Milk and corn are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,955 recipes. Both carry hexanal, which smells green, grassy. The science ↓
Cream Cake, French
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
Beat three eggs and one cup sugar thoroughly.
Add two tablespoons cold water.
Sift in one and one-half cups flour and one teaspoon baking powder, stirring all the time in one direction.
Bake the batter in two thin cakes.
Make the cream and assemble
While the cakes are still hot, split them and fill with cream.
To make the cream, mix one pint sweet milk, two tablespoons corn starch, one egg, one-half cup sugar, butter the size of an egg, and flavoring.
Cook the mixture in a double boiler, stirring until hot, then stir in butter and flavoring.
Spread the cream between the cake layers.
Sprinkle the top with powdered sugar.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 4 of 5 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 4 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Milk | 1 cup (244ml) whole | 149 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Cake | not in our table | 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.
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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Milk + corntop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,955 recipes
Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).
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Flour + corntop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,165 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
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).
Flour and milk barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 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
- Build structure and richness as the batter sets and the cake holds its shape.
- Flour
- Forms the main structure of the cake layers as the batter sets in the oven.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the batter so the thin cakes rise and turn light.
- Corn starch
- Thickens the sweet milk into a smooth cream when heated.
- Sweet milk
- Makes the cream liquid and rich, and gives it body once thickened.
The step that matters
Cook the cream in a double boiler. Cornstarch thickens only when heated, and gentle heat in a double boiler lets it set smoothly without scorching or lumps. Stirring keeps the starch evenly dispersed so the cream stays silky.
“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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