Name: Cream Cake
Ingredients: 4 eggs; 1 cup sugar; 1 cup flour; 1½ teaspoons baking powder; 1 cup milk; 1 egg (for cream); 2 teaspoons cornstarch; 1 tablespoon powdered sugar; vanilla extract (to taste)

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 ↓

Cream 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).
Beat the egg whites separately.
Beat the egg yolks separately.
Combine the sugar, flour, and baking powder in a bowl.
Fold in the beaten egg yolks.
Fold in the beaten egg whites.
Divide the batter into three layers.

Bake and make the cream

Bake the layers until golden.
Boil the milk with one egg and cornstarch until thickened.
Let the cream cool.
Flavor the cream with vanilla.

Ice and finish

Beat the egg white until stiff.
Gradually add powdered sugar to the beaten egg white.
Add vanilla to the mixture.
Ice the top of the cake with the icing.

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.

Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together19,187 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together35,032 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together43,450 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
Flour + vanillatop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together19,241 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour + milktop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together78,219 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

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: Egg whites trap air when beaten, giving the cake its light, airy structure.
Flour: Provides the structure that holds the cake's crumb once baked.
Sugar: Sweetens the cake and helps keep it tender and moist.
Baking powder: Releases gas when heated, helping the layers rise.
Milk: Thickens with cornstarch into the cream filling, adding richness and moisture.
Cornstarch: Thickens the boiled milk into a smooth, set cream.