Name: Sour Milk Cake
Ingredients: one cup sugar; 2 cup butter; 2 cups flour; 2 tablespoonfuls cocoa; cloves

Why it works: Butter and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Sour Milk Cake

Ingredients

Directions

Make the batter

Combine one cup sugar, one cup sour milk, one-half cup butter, two cups flour, one teaspoon soda, and two tablespoonfuls cocoa.
Mix sugar and cocoa, add butter and cream together, then the sour milk and flour.
Flavor if desired.

Bake

Bake as a loaf or sheet cake.

Spiced variation

Combine one cup sugar, two cups butter, one cup sour milk, one cup chopped raisins, one cup dates (dredged with flour before adding to batter), two cups flour, one teaspoon cloves, one teaspoon soda; prepare cake batter as for ordinary cake.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

768Calories

15 gProtein

22 gFat

126 gCarbs

What these numbers assume: 5 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Chocolate	1 oz (28g) semisweet	155
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Clove	1 tsp ground (2g)	7

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

By New Orleans Federation of Clubs. 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.

Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together124,287 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together92,116 recipes

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

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together548 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-undecalactone (coconut, creamy).
Flour + clovetop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together12,671 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Cocoa + clovetop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together41 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

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

Sour milk (in the method): Reacts with soda to lift the batter and adds a slight tang.
Soda (in the method): Reacts with the acidic sour milk to produce gas, helping the cake rise.
Flour: Provides structure as its proteins set during baking.
Butter: Adds fat for a tender crumb and rich flavor.
Sugar: Sweetens the cake and helps it brown and stay moist.
Cocoa: Adds chocolate flavor and color to the batter.