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Dessert

Ccrn Starch Cake

A light cake made with sugar, butter, milk, baking powder, vanilla, corn starch, and eggs.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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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 ↓

Ccrn Starch Cake

Oven, in the book's wordsA quick oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a quick oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Make the batter

  1. In a large bowl, cream together the sugar and melted butter until smooth.

  2. Add the milk, baking powder, vanilla, and corn starch; mix well.

  3. Separate the eggs, adding the yolks to the mixture and beating until combined.

Fold and bake

  1. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form, then gently fold them into the batter.

  2. Pour the batter into a greased cake pan and bake in a 350°F (175°C) oven until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,187 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

  2. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  3. Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together35,032 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  4. Vanilla + corntop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,943 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  5. Milk + corntop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,955 recipes

    Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).

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
Whites trapped as stiff foam give lift and a light crumb, while yolks add richness and structure.
Butter
Adds fat that tenderises the crumb and carries flavour.
Sugar
Sweetens the cake and helps create a fine, tender texture when creamed with fat.
Baking powder
Releases gas in the batter, helping the cake rise in the oven.
Corn starch
Lowers the flour-like protein content, producing a softer, more delicate crumb.

The step that matters

Folding in the egg whites. Stiff whites hold the air that lifts the cake. Stirring them in vigorously deflates the foam, so the cake bakes up dense. Fold gently, just until no white streaks remain.

“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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