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 ↓
Orange Cake
Ingredients
Directions
Make the cake
Cream sugar and butter until very light.
Add flour, egg whites of ten eggs, sweet cream, and baking powder, mixing well.
Bake in layers.
Make the icing
Make boiled icing by cooking one pound of sugar with the whites of two eggs.
Add the juice of two oranges and one lemon, grated rind of one orange and half a lemon.
Stir in powdered sugar until thick enough to spread.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 6 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Orange | 1 medium (131g) | 62 |
| Cream | 1 tbsp (15ml) heavy | 51 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
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.
-
Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
-
Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
-
Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
-
Sugar + orangetop 20% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together19,212 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Sugar and orange barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 19,212 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 (in the method)
- Provides the main structure that holds the cake's shape as it bakes.
- Butter
- Adds fat that makes the crumb tender and rich in flavour.
- Eggs
- Whites add structure and help bind the batter as it sets.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and, creamed with butter, helps trap air in the batter.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the batter, helping the cake rise in the oven.
- Sweet cream
- Adds moisture and richness, giving the batter a softer, more tender texture.
The step that matters
Cream sugar and butter until very light. Beating sugar and butter together traps tiny air bubbles in the fat. These bubbles expand in the oven and give the cake its lift and light crumb, so under-creaming leaves it dense.
Swap the orange
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, butter, cream, egg):
- Vanillafits better
- Strawberryfits better
- Raspberryfits better
- Orangethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, butter, cream, egg. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“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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