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Dessert

Tea Oake

A sweet cake made with flour, sugar, butter, eggs, baking powder, cream tartar, and vanilla.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Ladies' Benevolent Society, First Congregational Church (Fall River, Mass .). Ladies' Benevolent Society, Mass.) First Congregational Church (Fall River · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 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 ↓

Tea Oake

Ingredients

Directions

Make the batter

  1. Combine one egg, milk, one cup sugar, one and one half cups flour, three tablespoonfuls melted butter, one teaspoon baking powder; stir until just mixed.

  2. Bake in a quick oven.

Make the cake

  1. Sift one cup flour, one and one quarter cups fine granulated sugar, one teaspoon cream tartar, pinch salt.

  2. Beat whites of eleven eggs to a stiff froth.

  3. Add a scant teaspoon vanilla, then sift in the sifted ingredients, and cut in lightly a second or so.

  4. Bake in moderate oven for three quarters of an hour.

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 Ladies' Benevolent Society, First Congregational Church (Fall River, Mass .). Ladies' Benevolent Society, Mass.) First Congregational Church (Fall River. 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. Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

  3. Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together124,287 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  4. Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together92,116 recipes

    Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).

  5. Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together106,462 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Flour and butter 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

Flour
Provides the starch and gluten structure that holds the crumb together as it bakes.
Eggs
Whipped whites trap air that lifts the cake, while the yolk-containing egg adds richness and binding.
Butter
Adds fat that tenderises the crumb and gives a softer, richer texture.
Sugar
Sweetens the cake and helps keep the crumb moist and tender.
Cream of tartar
Acidifies the egg whites, stabilising the foam so it holds its volume.
Baking powder
Releases gas in the batter, helping the cake rise in the oven.

The step that matters

Cut in the sifted ingredients lightly. Whipped egg whites hold air that makes the cake rise. Stirring or folding too hard knocks that air out, so the cake bakes flat and 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.

More tea cake recipes

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