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 ↓
Cocoanut Loaf 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).
Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
In a separate bowl, mix 2½ cups of flour with the baking powder.
Add the flour mixture to the butter and sugar, alternating with the milk.
In another bowl, combine the grated coconut with ½ cup of flour and 2 tablespoons of beaten egg whites.
Fold the coconut mixture into the cake batter gently.
Bake and serve
Pour the batter into a greased loaf pan.
Bake for about 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Let cool, then sprinkle the reserved coconut on top or dust with powdered sugar.
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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Milk + coconuttop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,648 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Butter + coconuttop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,467 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 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
- Butter
- Creaming with sugar traps air and adds richness and a tender crumb.
- Flour
- Provides the structure that sets the cake as the batter bakes.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the batter so the cake rises and becomes light.
- Egg whites
- Add structure and lift to the batter and help bind the coconut.
- Grated coconut
- Adds moisture, chewiness and coconut flavour to the crumb.
The step that matters
Folding the coconut mixture into the batter. Folding gently keeps the air trapped in the batter, so the cake rises evenly; vigorous stirring knocks out air and develops gluten, making the crumb tough and dense.
Swap the coconut
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, sugar, flour, milk, egg):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits better
- Figfits about as well
- Coconutthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, sugar, flour, milk, 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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