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 ↓
Adelma 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 the batter
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a bowl, mix sugar, flour, baking powder, eggs, salt, and milk until smooth.
Divide the batter evenly among three jelly tins.
Bake and cool
Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Let the cakes cool completely.
Assemble and serve
Whip the thick cream until very stiff, then add sugar and vanilla to taste.
Spread the whipped cream between the cooled cake layers.
Store the cake in a cool place until ready to serve.
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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Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,187 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
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Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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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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Flour + vanillatop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,241 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).
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
- Eggs
- Provide structure and richness to the batter as they set during baking.
- All-purpose flour
- Forms the main structure of the cake as its proteins set with the eggs.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas during baking so the cake layers rise and become light.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cake and helps give it a tender, browned crumb.
- Thick cream
- Adds moisture and a rich, soft texture between the cake layers.
The step that matters
Whip the thick cream until very stiff. Cream that is under-whipped will be runny and will slide out from between the layers. Whipping incorporates air into the fat and water, letting the cream hold its shape as a filling.
“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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