Why it works: Butter and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
White 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
Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
Add the milk and water, mixing well.
Incorporate the egg whites and mix until combined.
Gradually add the flour and baking powder, mixing until smooth.
Beat the mixture hard for 5 minutes.
Pour the batter into a greased cake pan and bake until a toothpick comes out clean.
Make the icing
For the icing, boil 2 cups of sugar in 1 cup of water until it threads.
Pour the hot syrup over the beaten egg whites and mix until glossy.
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 + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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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).
Butter and flour 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
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness, and helps the creamed mixture trap air for a light crumb.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cake and, creamed with butter, helps create a light, fluffy texture.
- Flour
- Provides the structure that sets the cake as it bakes.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the batter so the cake rises and becomes tender.
- Egg whites
- Add structure and lift when beaten, and help bind the batter.
The step that matters
Pour the hot syrup over the beaten egg whites. The syrup must be at full boiling-to-threading temperature and poured in a thin stream while beating. This cooks the whites into a stable, glossy meringue; pouring too fast or with syrup that is not hot enough leaves the icing runny or grainy.
“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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