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Dessert

Marshmallow Cake

A layered cake with butter, sugar, milk, flour, egg whites, baking powder, gelatin, powdered sugar, and optional vanilla and fruit coloring.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 13 ingredients
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Marshmallow Cake

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 ↓

Marshmallow 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.

Make the cake batter

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

  2. Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.

  3. Add the sweet milk and mix well.

  4. Sift together the flour and baking powder, then gradually add to the mixture.

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

  6. Divide the batter between two greased cake pans and bake for 25‑30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Make the marshmallow layer

  1. For the marshmallow part, dissolve the gelatin in boiling water and let it stand for a few moments.

  2. Add the powdered sugar to the gelatin and beat for 30 minutes until stiff.

  3. Flavor with vanilla and pour into a buttered mold to set, preferably the day before.

Assemble and frost

  1. Once the cake is cool, layer the marshmallow in the middle and frost the cake as desired.

  2. For the frosting, boil the granulated sugar with a little water until it threads.

  3. Pour the hot syrup over the beaten egg whites, then flavor with vanilla and add fruit coloring if desired.

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.

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.

  1. Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,187 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

  2. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

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

  3. Sugar + gelatintop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,778 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  4. Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together35,032 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  5. Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked 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
Adds fat and richness, giving the cake a tender crumb.
Egg whites
Whipped to stiff peaks, they give the cake lift and an airy structure.
Flour
Provides the structure that holds the cake together as it bakes.
Baking powder
Releases gas in the heat, helping the cake rise.
Gelatin
Sets the marshmallow layer so it holds its shape and stays firm.
Sugar
Sweetens the cake and helps keep it moist and tender.

The step that matters

Beating the marshmallow until stiff. Gelatin must be fully dissolved and the mixture beaten long enough to trap air; if it is not stiff, it will not set properly in the mold.

“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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