Why it works: Sugar and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 92,116 recipes. Both carry phenylacetaldehyde, which smells hawthorne, honey. The science ↓
Orange Cake
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a brisk oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the batter
Beat the yolks of three eggs and the whites of two eggs with the sugar until well combined.
Add the grated rind of both oranges and the juice of one orange.
Stir in the flour mixed with 2 teaspoons of baking powder.
Mix well and pour into two large saucers or plates.
Bake and assemble
Bake in a brisk oven at 400°F (200°C) until done.
Once baked, sandwich the two pieces together with a paste made from the juice of the other orange and icing sugar.
Ice and set
Ice the entire cake with icing made from sugar and the white of an egg.
Place in a cool oven at 300°F (150°C) for a few minutes to set.
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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Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + orangetop 20% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together19,212 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Flour + orangetop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,821 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Egg and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 106,462 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
- Whisked with the sugar to trap air and give the cake its light, set structure.
- Flour
- Forms the cake's structure once set by heat.
- Baking powder (in the method)
- Releases gas in the batter, helping the cake rise and turn light.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cake and helps hold air in the beaten eggs.
- Oranges
- Add citrus flavour and aroma from the rind, plus moisture from the juice.
The step that matters
Bake in a brisk oven until done. A hot oven makes the batter rise quickly and set before it sinks. Underbaking leaves the centre gummy and collapsed, while overbaking dries it out.
Swap the orange
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, egg, flour):
- Raisinfits better
- Vanillafits better
- Lemonfits better
- Orangethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, 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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