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 ↓
Lemon Cake
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
Mix three teacupfuls of sugar, one cupful of butter, and five eggs.
Dissolve a level teaspoonful of soda in a cup of sweet milk.
Add the dissolved soda mixture to the sugar, butter, and eggs.
Stir in four full cups of sifted flour.
Fold in grated peel and juice of a lemon, adding the juice last.
Bake and finish
Bake in two shallow tins.
When cold, ice with lemon icing and cut into squares.
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.
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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 + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Egg + flourtop 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 batter and helps create a tender, lightly textured crumb.
- Eggs
- Provide structure, moisture and richness that bind the batter together.
- Flour
- Forms the gluten network that gives the cake its structure.
- Sweet milk
- Adds moisture and liquid that hydrates the flour and dissolves the soda.
- Lemon (in the method)
- Contributes acidity and bright aroma from the peel and juice.
The step that matters
Dissolve the soda fully in the milk. Baking soda must be evenly dissolved before mixing so it spreads through the batter. Undissolved pockets cause uneven rising, with bitter spots or dense patches in the finished cake.
“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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