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 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.
Make the batter
Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
Add the egg yolks one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
Stir in the grated coconut and milk.
In another bowl, sift together the flour and baking powder.
Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture, mixing until just combined.
In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.
Gently fold the beaten egg whites into the cake batter.
Bake and frost
Pour the batter into a greased cake pan and bake for 30-40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
For the frosting, beat the egg whites until very light, then gradually add the powdered sugar and remaining grated coconut.
Spread the frosting over the cooled cake.
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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Coconut + milktop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,648 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Coconut + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,467 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Flour + buttertop 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).
Flour and butter 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
- All-purpose flour
- Provides the starch structure that holds the cake's crumb together as it bakes.
- Unsalted butter
- Creams with sugar to trap air and adds richness and tender texture.
- Granulated sugar
- Creams with butter to aerate the batter and adds sweetness and gentle browning.
- Egg yolks
- Add richness, moisture and binding to the batter.
- Egg whites
- Whipped to stiff peaks and folded in to lighten the batter; also make up the frosting.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas when heated, helping the cake rise and become light.
The step that matters
Folding in the beaten egg whites. Whipped egg whites hold air that gives the cake its lift. Folding gently keeps that air in, while vigorous stirring would deflate the batter and produce a denser cake.
Swap the coconut
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, butter, sugar, milk, egg):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits better
- Figfits about as well
- Coconutthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, butter, sugar, 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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