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 gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Make the batter
Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
Sift the cream of tartar with the flour and add to the creamed mixture.
Dissolve the baking soda in the sweet milk and add it to the batter.
Stir in the vanilla and orange extracts.
Fold in the egg whites gently until well combined.
Bake
Pour the batter into a greased cake pan and bake for about 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
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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Vanilla + orangetop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,371 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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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 + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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
- Egg whites
- Whipped air that gives the cake its light, open structure as it sets.
- Butter
- Creamed with sugar to trap air and add richness and tender texture.
- Sugar
- Creams with butter to aid aeration and adds sweetness and gentle browning.
- Flour
- Provides the main structure that sets as the cake bakes.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic cream of tartar and milk to produce gas that makes the cake rise.
- Cream of tartar
- Acidifies the batter so baking soda reacts and helps stabilize the egg whites.
The step that matters
Fold in the egg whites gently. Egg whites hold the air that lifts the cake. Vigorous stirring knocks out that air, so the cake bakes up dense instead of light and airy.
Swap the orange
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, butter, sugar, flour, cream, milk, vanilla):
- Figfits better
- Coconutfits better
- Raisinfits better
- Orangethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, butter, sugar, flour, cream, milk, vanilla. 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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