Why it works: Sugar and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and 43,450 recipes mention both. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓
Ohablotte Busse Oake
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
Beat one cup powdered sugar, three eggs, yolks and whites separately.
Mix three tablespoons cream, one cup sifted flour, one level teaspoon cream tartar, and one half level teaspoon soda with the cream.
Bake and assemble
Bake the batter in three layers.
Whip one pint sweetened cream until stiff, then place between layers and on top.
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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Cream + flourtop 20% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together30,481 recipes
Shared aroma: acetaldehyde (pungent, ethereal).
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Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Flour and egg share little aroma chemistry, yet 106,462 recipes mention both: they likely 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, with yolks and whites handled separately for a light crumb.
- Flour
- Forms the structure that holds the cake's crumb together as it bakes.
- Powdered sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps tenderize the crumb.
- Cream
- Adds moisture and richness to the batter, and the whipped portion forms the filling and topping.
- Soda
- Reacts with acidic ingredients to produce gas that helps the layers rise.
The step that matters
Whip the cream until stiff, not beyond. Cream whipped past stiff peaks turns grainy and can separate into butter, which ruins the filling. Stop once the peaks hold their shape.
“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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