Name: 9. Hot Water Sponge Cake.
Ingredients: 1/4 teaspoonful vanilla extract 1/2 teaspoonful _method; 2 sugar 1 cup hot water _or_ milk 3/8 cup flour 1 cup baking powder 1-1/2 teaspo; 1 cup hot water _or_ milk 3/8 cup flour 1 cup baking powder 1-1/2 teaspoonfuls s; 3/8 cup flour 1 cup baking powder 1-1/2 teaspoonfuls salt 1/4 teaspoonful lemon; 1 cup baking powder 1-1/2 teaspoonfuls salt 1/4 teaspoonful lemon _or_ 1/4 teasp; 1-1/2 teaspoonfuls salt 1/4 teaspoonful lemon _or_ 1/4 teaspoonful vanilla extra; 1/4 teaspoonful lemon _or_ 1/4 teaspoonful vanilla extract 1/2 teaspoonful _me; 1/2 teaspoonful _method

Why it works: Vanilla and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,187 recipes. Both carry ethyl caproate, which smells fruity, apple peel. The science ↓

9. Hot Water Sponge Cake.

Ingredients

1/4 teaspoonful vanilla extract 1/2 teaspoonful _method
2 sugar 1 cup hot water _or_ milk 3/8 cup flour 1 cup baking powder 1-1/2 teaspo
1 cup hot water _or_ milk 3/8 cup flour 1 cup baking powder 1-1/2 teaspoonfuls s
3/8 cup flour 1 cup baking powder 1-1/2 teaspoonfuls salt 1/4 teaspoonful lemon
1 cup baking powder 1-1/2 teaspoonfuls salt 1/4 teaspoonful lemon _or_ 1/4 teasp
1-1/2 teaspoonfuls salt 1/4 teaspoonful lemon _or_ 1/4 teaspoonful vanilla extra
1/4 teaspoonful lemon _or_ 1/4 teaspoonful vanilla extract 1/2 teaspoonful _me
1/2 teaspoonful _method

Directions

Prepare

Separate eggs and beat yolks and whites thoroughly.
Mix and sift the dry ingredients.

Make the batter

Add the sugar gradually to beaten yolks alternately with water until well blended.
Next add the flavoring and then fold in the stiffly beaten whites together with the dry ingredients until blended.

Bake

Bake in a buttered shallow pan in a moderate oven for twenty-five minutes or until cake shrinks from the side of the pan.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

677Calories

22 gProtein

9 gFat

124 gCarbs

Counts 6 of 7 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 6 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Vanilla	1 tsp extract (4ml)	12
Lemon	juice of 1 lemon (48ml)	12
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
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.

By Helen Kinne and Anna M. Cooley. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg).

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.

Vanilla + milktop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together19,187 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
Vanilla + sugartop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together35,032 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Vanilla + flourtop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together19,241 recipes

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

Smell alikelow

Cooked together78,219 recipes

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

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,961 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

Vanilla and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 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 (in the method): Whipped yolks and whites provide the structure and lift that make the sponge light.
Flour: Provides the structure that holds the risen sponge once it sets in the oven.
Sugar: Sweetens the batter and helps stabilise the beaten yolks for a tender crumb.
Baking powder: Releases gas in the batter, helping the cake rise and become airy.

The step that matters

Folding the whites into the batter. Stiffly beaten whites hold the air that lifts the sponge. Folding gently, rather than stirring, keeps that air in the batter so the cake rises instead of going flat.

Swap the lemon

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (vanilla, sugar, milk, flour):

Raisinfits better
Figfits better
Blueberryfits better
Lemonthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against vanilla, sugar, milk, flour. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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.

Lemon Cake228 recipes

Lemon Ice147 recipes

Vanilla Ice Cream108 recipes

Lemon Sherbet103 recipes

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9. Hot Water Sponge Cake.