Why it works: Almond and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,673 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
White Cake
Ingredients
Directions
Whites of six eggs; one and one-fourth cups of sugar, three-fourths cup of butter, (light) two cups of
CAKES. 99
flour, one teaspoonful of yeastpowder; flavor with, lemon extract; cream butter well and mix flour with ii. ; oeai whices to a stl^ fiOt/u, and add sugax grduual- ly; add sugar and whites to flour and butter. — Mrs. Nannie Lay, Jefferson City, Mo.
DOI.L.Y V.IRDEX CAKE.
One cup of white sugar, half a cup of butter, whites of three eggs, one small cup of milk, flour enough to make it tlie consistency of cup cake ; two teaspoonfuls of Price's baking powder, one teaspoonful almond flavoring. Bake in square tin pans. Icing : Yolks of three eggs, one teaspoonful |,'iilvei"i^^*3. starch, whipped into the eggs thoroughly ; add pulverized sugar till it is as stiff as icing ; one teaspoon lemon extract ; spread smoothly on cake and put it in a cool place. — Mrs. I. H. Rearson, Fayette, Mo.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 7 of 8 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 7 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 |
| Lemon | juice of 1 lemon (48ml) | 12 |
| Almond | 1 almond (1.2g) | 7 |
| 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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Almond + flourtop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,673 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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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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Almond + lemontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,655 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Butter + almondtop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,245 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, butter, almond, egg, flour, milk):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits better
- Figfits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, butter, almond, egg, flour, milk. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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