Why it works: Sugar and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 21% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 122,807 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Miss Logan, Kentucky
Ingredients
Directions
Beat the eggs separately, put flour and sour cream in the yellows, thin the batter very thin with sweet milk.
Add lard, then soda dissolved in a little milk, and lastly the whites.
Bake quickly in very hot irons.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 3 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Lard | 1 tbsp (12.8g) | 115 |
| 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.
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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Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 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
- Eggs
- Whites are beaten separately and folded in last to give the cake lift and an airy crumb.
- Soda
- Reacts with the sour cream's acidity to release gas, helping the cake rise.
- Sour cream (in the method)
- Its acidity activates the soda and adds tenderness and a slight tang to the crumb.
- Lard
- Adds fat that shortens the crumb and keeps the cake moist and tender.
The step that matters
Bake quickly in very hot irons. Soda needs acid and heat to release its gas, and the batter's air is fragile. Batter left to stand before a hot oven loses rising power, so it should go in promptly and bake at high heat to set the structure before it sinks.
“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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