Why it works: Cream and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 43,450 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓
Cup-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.
Make the batter
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a large bowl, combine the cream, flour, eggs, salt, and lemon (or wine). Mix until smooth.
If desired, fold in currants.
Bake the cake
Pour the batter into a greased cake pan and bake until golden brown.
Frost and finish
For the frosting, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form, then gradually add the powdered sugar, beating for about 2 hours until thick.
Once the cake is baked, place it on a wire rack and frost it.
Return the frosted cake to the oven until the frosting hardens.
Flavor the frosting with lemon or rose water.
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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Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Flour + eggtop 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 + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Flour and egg 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
- All-purpose flour
- Provides the starch and gluten structure that holds the cake together.
- Large eggs
- Add structure and richness, helping the batter set as it bakes.
- Heavy cream
- Adds moisture and richness, giving the cake a tender crumb.
- Egg whites
- Whipped to stiff peaks, they trap air and give the frosting its light, airy body.
- Powdered sugar
- Sweetens the frosting and thickens it as it is beaten.
- Lemon
- Adds acidity and bright flavor to the batter and frosting.
The step that matters
Adding the powdered sugar to the egg whites. Egg whites must be beaten to stiff peaks first, then the sugar added gradually. Adding it gradually keeps the foam stable so the frosting holds its airy structure and thickens properly.
Swap the currant
The recipe marks currant as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cream, flour, egg, lemon, sugar):
- Raisinfits better
- Vanillafits better
- Raspberryfits better
- Currantthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against cream, flour, egg, lemon, sugar. 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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