Why it works: Milk and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Angel Cake
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
Separate the whites of 11 eggs.
Beat the sugar into the eggs along with 1 tsp vanilla extract and 1 tsp cream of tartar.
Sift together 1 cup pastry flour and 1 tsp cream of tartar.
Fold the sifted flour into the beaten egg mixture, stirring quickly and lightly.
Bake and cool
Preheat a moderate oven and prepare an ungreased pan with little legs at the top corner.
Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 40 minutes.
After baking, turn the pan upside down so that a current of air passes under and over it.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 6 of 8 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 6 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Chocolate | 1 oz (28g) semisweet | 155 |
| Milk | 1 cup (244ml) whole | 149 |
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Pastry | not in our table | 0 |
| Cake | not in our table | 0 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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.
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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Sugar + chocolatetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,404 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
-
Milk + chocolatetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,128 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).
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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 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
- Eggs
- Whipped egg whites trap air and form the light, airy structure of the cake.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the batter and helps stabilize the whipped egg foam.
- Pastry flour
- Provides a light, fine structure once the batter sets in the oven.
- Cream of tartar (in the method)
- Acidifies the egg whites, helping them whip to a stable, voluminous foam.
The step that matters
Folding the flour into the egg mixture. Whipped egg whites hold air that makes the cake rise. Stirring hard or for too long deflates the foam, so the flour should be folded in quickly and lightly.
“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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