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 ↓
Soda Pound Cake
Ingredients
Directions
'2 cups sugar, 1 cup butter.
SPICE CAKE — -No. I.— Mrs. Moore.
2 cups brown sugar, 1 cup sour milk,
2£ cups flour, 1 tea-spoon soda,
SPICE CAKE— No. 2— Mrs. G. D. Tinkcom.
2 cups sugar, white or brown, 1 cup sour milk> 1 cup butter, 4 eggs,
2-J cups flour, 1 tea-spoon soda,
SPICE CAKE— No. 3— VERY FINE.
§ cup butter, 1 cup sour milk,
1 tea-spoon nutmeg, 1-J tea-spoons cinnamon,
1 tea-spoon cloves, 3 cups flour.
SPONGE CAKE— No. 1,
The good, quality of all delicate cake, and especially of sponge-cake, depends very much upon its being made with fresh eggs. It must be quickly put together, beaten with rapidity, and baked in a rather quick oven. It is made "sticky" and less light by being stirred long. There is no other cake so dependent upon care and good judgment in baking as sponge-cake. In making white cake, if not conve- nient to use the yolks that are left, they will keep until the next day by being thoroughly beaten and set in a cool placa To prepare cocoanut, cut a hole through the meat at one of the holes in the end, draw off the milk, pound the nut well on all sides to loosen the meat, crack, take out meat, and set the pieces in the heater or in a cool, open oven all night, or for a few hours, to dry, then grate; if not all used, sprinkle with sugar (after grating) and spread out in a cool, dry place, and it will keep for weeks. In cutting layer cakes, it is better first to make a round hole in the centre, with a knife, or a tin tube, about an inch and a quarter in diameter. This prevents the edge of the cake from crumbling in cutting.
SPONGE CAKE— No. 2.
2 coffee-cups flour, 2 tea-spoons baking powder,
Add the water last. This, though thin, will come from the oven a most delicious cake.
SPONGE CAKE— No. S.^Mrs. Clark.
1-J cups flour, Flavor,
SPONGE CAKE— No. 4^Mrs. F, F. Adams.
12 ounces flour, Flavor. Beat the whites and yolks separately.
SPONGE CAKE No. 5— VERY NICE. — Mrs. Teel
10 eggs beaten separately and Juice of one lemon, put together, A little baking powder.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 10 of 11 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 10 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Milk | 1 cup (244ml) whole | 149 |
| Sour Milk | 1 cup (244ml) whole | 149 |
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Molasses | 1 tbsp (20g) | 58 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Nutmeg | 1 tsp ground (2.2g) | 12 |
| Lemon | juice of 1 lemon (48ml) | 12 |
| Clove | 1 tsp ground (2g) | 7 |
| 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.
-
Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Flour + nutmegtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,623 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Milk + teatop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together738 recipes
Shared aroma: 4-heptenal (creamy, biscuit).
-
Sugar + molassestop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,225 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
-
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 nutmeg
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, butter, milk, flour, molasses, egg, tea):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Nutmegthe original
- Gingerfits less well
- Clovefits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, butter, milk, flour, molasses, egg, tea. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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