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 ↓
Corn Starch 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.
Prepare the batter
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
Add the egg whites and mix until well combined.
In a separate bowl, combine the baking powder and corn starch.
Gradually add the dry mixture to the wet mixture, alternating with the milk, until a batter forms.
Bake
Pour the batter into molds of your choice.
Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
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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Milk + corntop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,955 recipes
Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).
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Butter + corntop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,345 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
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Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Butter
- Creams with the sugar to trap air, giving the cake a light, tender crumb and rich flavor.
- Egg whites
- Add structure and help the batter set and hold its shape as it bakes.
- Sugar
- Creams with the butter for aeration and adds sweetness and gentle browning.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the batter, causing the cake to rise and become airy.
- Corn starch
- Lightens the crumb and softens texture, since it contains no gluten to toughen the cake.
- Milk
- Adds moisture and liquid that hydrates the starch and helps form a smooth batter.
The step that matters
Gradually add the dry mixture, alternating with the milk. Adding dry and liquid ingredients in alternating portions keeps the batter emulsified and evenly hydrated, so it stays smooth and bakes with a uniform texture rather than curdling or turning dense.
“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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