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 ↓
Choice Fig 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).
Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
Add the sweet milk and mix well.
Gradually add the flour and baking powder, mixing until combined.
Fold in the beaten egg whites gently.
Add the floured fig strips and mix until evenly distributed.
Bake and serve
Pour the batter into a greased cake pan and bake until a toothpick comes out clean.
Let cool before serving.
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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Milk + figtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,026 recipes
Shared aroma: methyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + figtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,192 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).
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
- Adds richness and tenderness, and helps the cake feel soft and moist.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cake and, creamed with butter, traps air that helps it rise.
- Egg whites
- Whipped and folded in, they add lift and give the cake a light, airy structure.
- Flour
- Provides the main structure that sets as the cake bakes.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the batter so the cake rises in the oven.
- Figs
- Add fruity sweetness and moisture, and flavor the crumb as they bake.
The step that matters
Fold in the beaten egg whites gently. Egg whites hold air bubbles that give the cake its lift. Stirring vigorously deflates them, which can leave a dense, flat cake.
Swap the fig
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, sugar, milk, flour, egg):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits better
- Figthe original
- Coconutfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, sugar, milk, flour, egg. 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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