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 ↓
White Cake
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
Cream the butter.
Add 2 heaping teaspoons baking powder.
Add 2 cups sugar, sifted three times.
Add 1 cup milk.
Beat the whites of 6 eggs stiff.
Sift 4 cups flour three times, measured after sifting.
Cream butter and sugar.
Add milk and flour.
Fold baking powder into the egg whites.
Fold this into the batter.
Flavor with vanilla.
Bake
Bake in a slow oven for about 50 minutes.
Do not light oven until cake is ready to go in.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
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 |
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 + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
-
Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 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
What each ingredient does
- Butter
- Adds fat that tenderises the crumb and carries flavour.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cake and helps the creamed batter hold air for a fine texture.
- Eggs
- Beaten whites trap air, giving the cake lift and a light structure.
- Flour
- Forms the cake's structure as its proteins set in the oven.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the batter so the cake rises.
- Milk
- Adds moisture and liquid to hydrate the flour.
The step that matters
Folding the egg whites into the batter. Stiffly beaten whites hold trapped air that gives the cake its lift. Folding gently, rather than stirring, keeps that air from collapsing, so the cake stays light.
“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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