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 ↓
Layer Cake
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the batter
Beat the butter and sugar until creamy.
Gradually add the egg yolks.
Alternately mix in the flour and milk, sifting the baking powder with the flour.
Fold in the well-beaten egg whites last.
Bake
Bake in 3 round cake pans in a moderate oven (350°F / 175°C) for about 15 minutes.
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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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
- Butter
- Fat that creams with sugar and gives the cake richness and a tender crumb.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cake and, when beaten with butter, traps air that helps it rise.
- Eggs
- Add structure and richness, and the whites add lift when folded in.
- Flour
- Forms the cake's structure as its proteins set during baking.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the batter, causing the cake to rise.
- Milk
- Adds moisture and loosens the batter so it bakes evenly.
The step that matters
Fold in the well-beaten egg whites last. Whites hold air that gives the cake its lift. Folding gently with a spatula keeps that air in, while vigorous stirring would deflate the batter and produce a dense cake.
“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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