Why it works: Butter and flour 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 ↓
Loaf Cake
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a hot oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the batter
Cream the butter in a bowl.
Gradually beat in the sifted flour and baking soda.
In another bowl, beat the egg whites until dry, then gradually add the sugar.
Slowly mix the egg white mixture into the butter and flour mixture.
Add the lemon juice and mix well.
Bake
Line the bottom of a cake pan with buttered paper and grease the sides.
Pour the batter into the pan and bake at 350°F (175°C) for about 45 minutes or until done.
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 + flourtop 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 + lemontop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,227 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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Flour + lemontop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together30,404 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 fat that makes the crumb tender and rich.
- All-purpose flour
- Provides the structure that holds the cake together as it bakes.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic lemon juice to produce gas that helps the cake rise.
- Egg whites
- Whipped to hold air, adding lift and a light, open texture.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cake and helps keep it moist and tender.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity for bright flavor and activates the baking soda.
The step that matters
Slowly mix the egg white mixture into the butter and flour mixture. Folding gently keeps the air whipped into the egg whites. Overmixing or stirring hard deflates the foam, leading to a denser, flatter cake.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, flour, egg, sugar):
- Raisinfits better
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits about as well
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, flour, egg, sugar. 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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