Why it works: Sugar and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 43,450 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓
Sponge 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.
Make the cake
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a bowl, mix ½ cup sugar with 3 eggs until light and fluffy.
Gradually add 1½ cups flour and 1½ teaspoons baking powder.
Stir in 4 tablespoons of water until well combined.
Pour the batter into two greased cake pans and bake for 25-30 minutes.
Once baked, split the layers in half.
Make the cream filling
For the cream filling, combine ¾ cup sugar, 1 cup milk, 1 egg, and 1 tablespoon cornstarch in a saucepan.
Cook over medium heat until thickened, stirring constantly.
Assemble
Spread the cream filling between the layers of cake.
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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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Coffee + milktop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,202 recipes
Shared aroma: 4-heptenal (creamy, biscuit).
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Flour + milktop 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).
Flour and milk barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 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
- Eggs
- Whipped with sugar to trap air, giving the cake its light, airy structure.
- Flour
- Forms the main structure that holds the cake together as it bakes.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas when heated, helping the batter rise in the oven.
- Milk
- Adds moisture and richness to the cream filling.
- Cornstarch
- Thickens the cream filling as it cooks and heats.
The step that matters
Cook the cream filling until thickened. Cornstarch only thickens fully when the mixture reaches a simmer while stirred, so stopping early leaves a runny filling and stirring prevents scorching on the pan bottom.
“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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