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 ↓
Sponge Cakes
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Beat the egg whites until firm.
In a separate bowl, mix the egg yolks, sugar, lemon rind, and sherry into a smooth batter.
Work the batter together for 20 minutes.
Gently fold in the beaten egg whites.
Gradually mix in the flour.
Prepare the mold by greasing it with butter and dusting with sifted sugar.
Bake and test
Pour the batter into the mold for a cake or small molds for sponge fingers.
Bake for 15-20 minutes for fingers or about 1 hour for a cake.
Check for doneness by inserting a wooden skewer; if it comes out clean, the cake is done.
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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Flour + lemontop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together30,404 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Lemon + sherrytop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,273 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
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Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, 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
- Whipped whites give the cake its airy structure, while the yolks add richness and color.
- Pounded sugar
- Sweetens the batter and helps give the crumb a fine, tender texture.
- Flour
- Provides the starch and gluten that set the cake's structure as it bakes.
- Lemon rind
- Adds fragrant citrus aroma and flavor to the batter.
- Sherry
- Adds liquid and a distinct aromatic, slightly sweet flavor to the batter.
The step that matters
Folding in the beaten egg whites. Stirring rather than folding deflates the whipped whites, which are the cake's main source of lift, leaving a dense, flat sponge.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar, flour, sherry):
- Raisinfits better
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sugar, flour, sherry. 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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