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 ↓
White Cake
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a slow oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the batter
Cream the butter and sugar together.
Add the milk and flour, mixing well.
Fold the baking powder into the beaten egg whites, then fold this mixture into the cake batter. Flavor with vanilla.
Bake
Bake in a slow oven at 300°F (150°C) for about 50 minutes.
Do not light the oven until the cake is ready to go in.
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 + vanillatop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,187 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
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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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Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + vanillatop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,241 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
- Creaming with sugar traps air and adds fat for a tender, fine-textured crumb.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cake and helps the creamed mixture hold air for a tender crumb.
- Flour
- Provides the structure that sets the cake as it bakes.
- Milk
- Adds moisture and hydrates the flour so the batter can set.
- Egg whites
- Beaten stiff, they trap air that lifts and lightens the cake.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas during baking, causing the cake to rise.
The step that matters
Folding the beaten egg whites into the batter. Folding gently keeps the air trapped in the stiff whites. Stirring or deflating them makes the cake denser and less light as it rises in the oven.
Swap the vanilla
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, sugar, milk, egg, flour):
- Vanillathe original
- Raisinfits about as well
- Figfits less well
- Coconutfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, sugar, milk, egg, flour. 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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