Why it works: Flour and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Genoese Pastry
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Melt the butter in a small saucepan over low heat, being careful not to burn it.
Prepare a round tin, 2 inches deep, lined with a sheet of paper that extends 1 inch above the edge.
Butter the paper with a brush dipped in the melted butter.
Sift the flour through a wire sieve into a plate.
Make the batter
In a large basin, break the eggs and add the powdered sugar.
Place the basin over a saucepan of boiling water and whip the eggs and sugar for 20 minutes, ensuring they don't get too hot.
Remove the basin from the heat and stir in the melted butter.
Gently fold in the sifted flour with a wooden spoon.
Pour the mixture into the prepared tin.
Bake and finish
Bake in a preheated oven at 400°F (200°C) for 30 minutes until pale brown.
To check if baked, press lightly; no mark should remain.
Once baked, turn the cake upside down onto a wire rack to cool.
When cool, cut into shapes with a cutter.
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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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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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).
Flour and butter 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
- Eggs
- Whipped with sugar to trap air, giving the sponge its light, airy structure.
- Flour
- Provides the structure that sets the sponge once baked.
- Butter
- Adds richness and a tender crumb, and helps flavour and browning.
- Powdered sugar
- Sweetens the batter and helps stabilise the whipped egg foam.
The step that matters
Whipping the eggs and sugar over hot water. Whipping warm eggs and sugar builds a stable foam that holds air for the rise. If the basin gets too hot, the eggs can scramble or cook, and the sponge loses volume.
“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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