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Dessert

Silver Cake

A simple cake made with eggs, butter, sugar, milk, soda, cream of tartar, and flour.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Vehling, Joseph Dommers, 1879-1950. fmo · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Butter and cream 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 ↓

Silver Cake

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Separate the whites of six eggs.

  2. Cream one tea-cupful of butter.

  3. Add two of sugar.

  4. Add one of sweet milk with one half tea-spoonful of soda.

  5. Add one tea-spoonful of cream of tartar.

  6. Add two full cups of flour.

  7. Bake quickly.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

735Calories
20 gProtein
23 gFat
109 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 5 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Cream1 tbsp (15ml) heavy51
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By Vehling, Joseph Dommers, 1879-1950. fmo. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  2. Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together124,287 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  3. Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together106,462 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  4. Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together118,967 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  5. Cream + flourtop 20% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together30,481 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetaldehyde (pungent, ethereal).

Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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
Provide structure and lift, helping the cake set firmly while staying light.
Butter
Adds richness and a tender crumb when creamed with the sugar.
Flour
Forms the main structure that holds the cake together as it bakes.
Soda
Reacts with the acid and moisture to release gas that makes the cake rise.
Cream of tartar
Supplies acid that reacts with the soda to help the batter rise and stay tender.
Sweet milk (in the method)
Adds moisture and helps dissolve the soda so the batter stays evenly hydrated.

The step that matters

Bake quickly.. Soda and cream of tartar begin releasing gas as soon as they are mixed with liquid. Delaying the bake lets that gas escape, so the cake may rise poorly and turn out dense.

“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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