Why it works: Butter and milk 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 ↓
Lady Baltimore Cake
Ingredients
Directions
\ cup butter (scant), If cups granulated sugar (sifted), 1 cup cold water, 3 even cups of flour (sifted 3 times before measuring), 2 rounded tsp. of baking powder, whites of 4 eggs. Flavor with \ tsp. of almond extract and \ tsp. vanilla (mixed). Cream the butter and sugar, add \ of the water with 1 cup of the flour, beat thoroughly and add second cup flour, continue beating; into the last cup of flour sift the baking powder, and add as the others, then the rest of the water, flavor and then cut and fold in the stifly beaten whites very carefully. This will make 3 layers 12 inches square, or 2 layers 14 inches square. Layer cakes require a hotter oven than loaf cakes. Use pastry flour.
FILLING FOR LADY BALTIMORE CAKE. Grind together in the meat grinder, § lb. figs, \ lb. pecans or English walnuts and \ lb. raisins. Make a boiled icing of 2 cups of granulated sugar, \ cup of water, whites of 2 eggs. Boil sugar and water together gently without stirring until it threads from the spoon, turn this mixture slowly in the stiffly beaten whites of the eggs, beat while turning on the hot liquid, continue beating until of the right consistency to spread, leave out \ and into the rest stir the frui+ and nuts. Spread the fruit icing between the layers and on the top, and over this spread the plain white icing.
WHITE MOUNTAIN CAKE. 1 cup butter, 2 cups sugar, 1 cup sweet milk, 3 cups flour, whites of 5 eggs, 2 tsp. baking powder, 1 lb. mixed nuts, chopped, weighed in shell. Mrs. Charles Hedwall.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 5 of 6 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 5 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Milk | 1 cup (244ml) whole | 149 |
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Water | 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.
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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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked 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
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