Skip to main content
Dessert

Lady Cake

A light cake made with boiled milk, butter, powdered sugar, flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, egg whites, and bitter almond extract.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Why it works: Flour and almond are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,673 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Lady 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

  1. Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C).

Make the batter

  1. In a bowl, mix the boiled milk and butter until combined.

  2. Gradually add the powdered sugar, mixing well.

  3. Sift together the flour, cream of tartar, and baking soda, then add to the mixture.

  4. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form, then fold them into the batter.

  5. Add bitter almond extract to taste and mix gently.

Bake

  1. Pour the batter into a greased cake pan and bake for about 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Flour + almondtop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,673 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  2. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  3. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  4. Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

  5. Butter + almondtop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,245 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Flour
Provides the main structure that sets the cake's crumb as it bakes.
Eggs whites
Beaten to stiff peaks, they trap air that lightens the batter and helps it rise.
Butter
Adds fat that tenderizes the crumb and carries flavour.
Powdered sugar
Sweetens the batter and helps give a fine, tender texture.
Cream of tartar
Stabilises the beaten egg whites so they hold their peaks.
Baking soda
Reacts with acidic ingredients to release gas, helping the cake rise.

The step that matters

Folding in the egg whites. Beaten whites hold air that gives the cake its lift. Stirring them in vigorously knocks that air out, so fold gently with a spatula until just combined.

“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.

More lady cake recipes

White 13 See all 79 →

You might also like

Almond Sponge CakeAlmond Sponge Cake26 recipesAlmond CustardAlmond Custard22 recipesAlmond WafersAlmond Wafers22 recipesCoconut Almond CakeCoconut Almond Cake17 recipes