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 ↓
Indian Loaf Cake
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
Mix a teacupful of powdered white sugar with a quart of rich milk, and cut up in the milk two ounces of butter, adding a saltspoonful of salt.
Put this mixture into a covered pan or skillet, and set it on the fire till it is scalding hot.
Then take it off, and scald with it as much yellow Indian meal (previously sifted) as will make it of the consistency of thick boiled mush.
Beat the whole very hard for a quarter of an hour, and then set it away to cool.
Add eggs and yeast
While it is cooling, beat three eggs very light, and stir them gradually into the mixture when it is about as warm as new milk.
Add a teacupful of good strong yeast and beat the whole another quarter of an hour.
Prepare the pan
Have ready a tin mold or earthen pan with a pipe in the centre. Butter the pan well.
Rise and bake
Put the mixture into the pan, cover it, and set it in a warm place to rise. It should be light in about four hours.
Then bake it two hours in a moderate oven.
When done, turn it out with the broad surface downwards and serve hot. Cut it into slices and eat it with butter.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 4 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Milk | 1 cup (244ml) whole | 149 |
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 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.
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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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Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
-
Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Yellow indian meal (in the method)
- Forms the bulk of the batter, setting into a firm, sliceable crumb when baked.
- Eggs
- Add structure and richness to the batter, helping it hold its risen shape.
- Yeast (in the method)
- Leavens the batter so it rises and becomes light before baking.
- Milk
- Provides the liquid that hydrates the meal and gives a soft, tender crumb.
- Butter
- Adds fat for softness and a rich flavour in the crumb.
The step that matters
Cool the scalded mixture to about new-milk warmth before adding the eggs and yeast. Yeast is killed by high heat, so eggs and yeast added to a mixture that is still hot can stop the rise. Cooling it to lukewarm keeps the yeast active so the cake lightens as it proofs.
“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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