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 ↓
Lady Cake
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the batter
Beat the eggs to a stiff froth.
Gradually add the powdered sugar, one spoonful at a time, while continuing to beat.
In a separate bowl, cream the softened butter and mix in the sweet milk and baking soda.
Stir the egg mixture into the milk and butter mixture.
Sift in enough flour to create a batter thick as pound cake.
Bake and finish
Pour the batter into a prepared pan and bake at 400°F (200°C) for about 30 minutes.
Once nearly cool, ice the bottom of the cake.
When the icing firms, mark it into small squares.
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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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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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).
Butter and flour 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
- Eggs
- Whipped to a stiff froth, they trap air that gives the cake its light structure.
- Powdered sugar
- Sweetens the batter and dissolves smoothly into the beaten eggs.
- Butter
- Creamed with the milk and adds richness and tenderness to the crumb.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidity in the batter to produce gas that helps the cake rise.
- Flour
- Adds structure, setting the batter into a firm cake as it bakes.
The step that matters
Stir the egg mixture into the milk and butter mixture. Folding gently keeps the air beaten into the eggs intact. Overmixing deflates the foam, leaving a denser cake that rises less.
“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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