Why it works: Milk and vanilla 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 ↓
Nut 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.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Make the batter
Cream the butter and sugar, adding the sugar in four parts.
Beat the egg yolks and mix them into the butter and sugar.
Stir in the milk and vanilla extract.
In a separate bowl, combine the flour and baking powder, then add to the mixture.
Mix well and fold in the chopped walnuts.
Beat the egg whites until stiff and carefully fold them into the batter.
Bake
Pour the batter into a greased cake pan and bake for almost an hour.
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.
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 + vanillatop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,187 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
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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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Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Vanilla + walnuttop 10% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,730 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Sugar and vanilla 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
- Butter
- Creams with sugar to trap air and add richness and tender texture.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cake and helps the creamed mixture hold air for lightness.
- Eggs
- Add structure and richness, and whipped whites give the cake lift.
- All-purpose flour
- Forms the main structure of the cake as its proteins set in the oven.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the batter to make the cake rise.
- English walnuts
- Add crunch and a nutty flavor throughout the cake.
The step that matters
Folding in the egg whites. Stiff whites hold the batter's air bubbles, so folding gently rather than stirring keeps the cake light. Overmixing deflates the whites and leaves a dense crumb.
Swap the walnut
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, sugar, egg, milk, vanilla, flour):
- Almondfits better
- Chestnutfits better
- Hazelnutfits better
- Walnutthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, sugar, egg, milk, vanilla, 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.
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