Why it works: Flour and buttermilk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,721 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
A Good Cup Cake
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure. The book gives no cooking times; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Make the batter
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar.
Add the buttermilk and mix well.
In a separate bowl, beat the egg yolks and then add them to the mixture.
Sift in the flour and baking soda, mixing until smooth.
In another bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form, then gently fold them into the batter.
Bake and cool
Pour the batter into a greased baking pan and bake for about 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Let the cake cool completely before icing.
Ice and serve
For the icing, boil 1 cup of sugar with a little water until it reaches a thick syrup consistency.
Stir the syrup into the beaten egg whites and add lemon flavoring to taste.
Spread the icing over the cooled cake and cut into squares.
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.
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Flour + buttermilktop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,721 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Sugar + buttermilktop 9% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,973 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour and butter 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
- Flour
- Provides the structure that holds the cake together as it bakes.
- Butter
- Adds fat for a tender crumb and rich flavor.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cake and helps it brown and hold moisture.
- Eggs
- Egg yolks add richness; whipped whites add lightness and help the cake rise.
- Buttermilk
- Adds moisture and acidity that tenderizes the crumb.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the buttermilk's acidity to produce gas that helps the cake rise.
The step that matters
Folding in the egg whites. Whipped egg whites trap air that lifts the batter. Folding gently keeps that air in; stirring vigorously deflates the foam and leaves a dense, flat cake.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, sugar, butter, buttermilk, egg):
- Raisinfits better
- Vanillafits better
- Lemonthe original
- Figfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, sugar, butter, buttermilk, egg. 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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