Why it works: Milk and butter 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 ↓
Marshmallow Cake
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a very slow oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the batter
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a bowl, cream together the sugar and butter.
Add the sweet milk, cornstarch, pastry flour, egg whites, and baking powder; mix well.
Pour the batter into a greased cake pan.
Bake the cake
Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Make the icing
For the icing, melt the marshmallows in the oven for a few minutes.
Once melted, stir the marshmallows into the boiled icing until thoroughly mixed.
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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Milk + buttertop 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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Flour + eggtop 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
- Pastry flour
- Provides the main structure that holds the cake's crumb together as it bakes.
- Egg whites
- Add structure and help the batter set and hold its rise in the oven.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas during baking, lifting the batter so the cake rises and becomes light.
- Butter
- Adds fat that tenderises the crumb and gives a rich flavour.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cake and helps keep the crumb soft and moist.
- Cornstarch
- Softens the flour's structure, giving the cake a finer, more tender texture.
The step that matters
Stirring the melted marshmallows into the icing. Marshmallows must be fully melted and mixed in while the icing is still hot, because the icing firms and sets as it cools, leaving lumps or a stiff texture if it cools first.
“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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