Why it works: Flour and almond are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,673 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Almond 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
In a bowl, cream together the sugar and butter.
Add the milk and mix well.
Gradually add the flour, mixing until smooth.
Fold in the beaten egg whites, cream of tartar, baking soda, and almond extract.
Bake
Pour the batter into a greased cake pan and sprinkle blanched almonds on top.
Bake for 30 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.
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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Flour + almondtop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,673 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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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 + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Butter + almondtop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,245 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Egg whites
- Beaten to a froth, they trap air and give the cake its light, airy structure.
- Flour
- Forms the cake's main structure once mixed into the batter.
- Butter
- Creamed with the sugar, it adds richness and a tender crumb.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cake and helps create a soft texture when creamed with butter.
- Cream of tartar
- Stabilises the beaten egg whites so the foam holds its volume.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidity in the batter to produce gas that helps the cake rise.
The step that matters
Folding in the beaten egg whites. Egg whites hold air only while their foam is intact. Folding gently, rather than stirring, keeps the air bubbles in the batter so the cake rises well and stays light.
“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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