Why it works: Flour and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Marble Cake
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point. The book gives no cooking times either; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Prepare a cake tin by lining it with parchment paper.
Make the batter
Beat the egg whites in a bowl until frothy.
Gradually add the sugar and continue beating until stiff peaks form.
Gently fold in the flour, baking powder, and salt.
Add the softened butter until just combined.
Divide the batter into two equal parts.
Marble and bake
Keep one part plain and pour it into the prepared cake tin.
Divide the second part into three equal portions.
Color one portion pink, one yellow, and one brown using food coloring and melted chocolate.
Fill three separate piping bags or cones with the colored batters.
Cut the ends of the bags to create openings about ¼ inch in diameter.
Pipe the colored batters onto the plain batter in the tin, moving the piping bag around to create a marbled effect.
Smooth the top of the batter.
Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Ice the cake
Alternate lines of white, yellow, and brown icing on the cooled cake.
Use a clean comb to create a marbled design on the icing.
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.
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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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + chocolatetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,404 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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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).
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Butter + chocolatetop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,543 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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
- Egg whites
- Whipped into stiff peaks, they trap air that lifts and gives the cake a light crumb.
- Granulated sugar
- Sweetens the batter and helps stabilize the whipped egg whites.
- All-purpose flour
- Provides the structure that holds the cake's crumb once baked.
- Unsalted butter
- Adds fat for a tender texture and rich flavor.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas during baking, helping the cake rise.
The step that matters
Folding in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Fold gently so the air trapped in the whipped egg whites is not deflated. Overmixing knocks out this air and makes the cake dense and less tender.
“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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