Why it works: Butter and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Dayton 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 your oven to 350°F (175°C).
Make the batter
In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
Add the cream and cream of tartar, mixing well.
Beat in the eggs one at a time, alternating with the flour.
Stir in the vanilla extract.
Finally, add the baking soda and mix until just combined.
Bake
Pour the batter into a greased cake pan and bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
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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Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + vanillatop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,241 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 give a tender, rich crumb.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cake and creams with butter to create air bubbles for lift.
- Flour
- Provides the structure that sets as the cake bakes.
- Eggs
- Add structure, binding, and richness to the batter.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic cream of tartar and batter to make the cake rise.
- Cream of tartar
- Acidifies the batter so baking soda can react and lift the cake.
The step that matters
Add the baking soda last and mix until just combined. Baking soda starts releasing gas as soon as it meets acid and liquid, so it should be folded in briefly at the end. Overmixing after it is added knocks out gas bubbles and can leave the cake dense.
Swap the vanilla
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, sugar, flour, egg, cream):
- Vanillathe original
- Raisinfits about as well
- Coconutfits less well
- Figfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, sugar, flour, egg, cream. 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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