Name: Cocoanut Cake
Ingredients: two cups powdered sugar; half cup butter; one cup milk; three cups flour; one cup of powdered sugar; four tablespoonfuls powdered sugar; three eggs; half teaspoon- fuls breadmaker's baking powder; one grated cocoanut; one half of this add whites of three eggs beaten to a froth; three eggs beaten to a froth

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 ↓

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 pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together81,283 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together124,287 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together78,219 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together92,116 recipes

Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked 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

Flour: Forms the main structure that holds the cake together.
Eggs: Bind the batter and set as the cake bakes, giving it structure.
Baking powder: Releases gas as it bakes, helping the cake rise.
Butter: Adds fat for a tender crumb and richer flavor.
Milk: Adds moisture and helps form a smooth batter.
Grated coconut: Adds moist texture and coconut flavor to the filling and topping.

“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.