Why it works: Milk and butter 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 ↓
Whipped Cream Cake
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
Stir one cup of sugar and two tablespoonfuls of soft butter together.
Add the yolks of two eggs well beaten.
Add four tablespoonfuls of milk, some flavoring, and the beaten whites of the eggs.
Mix a teaspoonful of cream of tartar and half a teaspoon of soda in a cup of flour.
Sift the flour mixture into the cake batter and stir lightly.
Bake and finish
Bake in a small whipping-pan.
When the cake is cool, prepare half a pint of sweetened cream whipped to a stiff froth, also flavored.
Spread the whipped cream over the cake while fresh.
To whip the cream easily, set it on ice before whipping.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 6 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 |
| Cream | 1 tbsp (15ml) heavy | 51 |
| 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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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Flour + buttertop 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).
Flour and butter 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
- Eggs
- Whites trap air and help the cake rise and hold its structure, while yolks add richness.
- Cream of tartar
- Acidifies the batter so the soda reacts, producing gas that lightens the crumb.
- Soda
- Reacts with the acid in the cream of tartar to release gas, helping the cake rise.
- Flour
- Provides the structure that sets the cake as it bakes.
- Sweet cream
- Whipped into a stiff froth to make a light, airy topping for the cake.
The step that matters
Folding in the whipped egg whites and sifting the flour mixture. Stirring lightly preserves the air trapped in the whites and the gas released by the leavening, so the cake stays light instead of deflating or turning dense.
“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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