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 ↓
Vanity 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 the batter
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a bowl, cream together the sugar and butter until light and fluffy.
Add the sweet milk and mix well.
In another bowl, combine the flour, cornstarch, and baking powder.
Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture, stirring until smooth.
In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.
Gently fold the egg whites into the batter.
Bake and finish
Divide the batter into two greased cake pans.
Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Let the cakes cool, then frost between the layers and on top.
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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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
- Egg whites
- Whipped to stiff peaks and folded in, they lighten the batter and help the cake rise.
- Flour
- Forms the main structure of the cake as its proteins set during baking.
- Butter
- Creaming with sugar traps air and adds fat for a tender, rich crumb.
- Sugar
- Creamed with butter to aerate the batter and sweeten the cake, and helps browning.
- Cornstarch
- Softens the crumb by diluting the flour's gluten, giving a finer, more tender texture.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the batter as it heats, helping the cake rise and become light.
The step that matters
Folding in the egg whites. Whipped egg whites hold the air that lifts the cake. Stirring them in vigorously knocks out that air, leaving a dense cake, so fold gently 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.
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