Name: Old Fashioned Sponge Cake
Ingredients: three cups of granulated sugar; nine eggs as light as possible; twelve tablespoon- fuls of hot water; 3 cups of flour into which three heaping teaspoonfuls of baking powder have been; three heaping teaspoonfuls of baking powder have been thoroughly mixed; 2 lemons; 3 eggs; one lemon; 26 magazine st; 27 new orleans louisiana be sure to use en co pure food in cans fo

Why it works: Sugar and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 92,116 recipes. Both carry phenylacetaldehyde, which smells hawthorne, honey. The science ↓

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.

Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together92,116 recipes

Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together106,462 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour + lemontop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together30,404 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together53,532 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Egg + lemontop 19% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together44,316 recipes

Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).

Egg and flour 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

Eggs: Beaten whites trap air, giving the sponge its light structure and lift.
Flour: Its starch and gluten set the crumb into a firm, cake-like structure as it bakes.
Baking powder: Releases gas in the batter, helping the cake rise in the oven.
Sugar: Sweetens the cake and, beaten with the yolks, helps create a tender crumb.
Lemon: Rind and juice add fragrant aroma and a bright, slightly acidic flavor.

The step that matters

Add the beaten whites to the mixture. Whipped egg whites hold air that gives a sponge its lift. Overbeating or deflating them while combining the batter causes a flatter, denser cake.

Swap the lemon

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, egg, flour):

Raisinfits better
Vanillafits better
Lemonthe original
Figfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, egg, flour. 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.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Lemon	juice of 1 lemon (48ml)	12
Water	not in our table	0

Old Fashioned Sponge Cake