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Dessert

White Cake

A light, almond-flavored cake made with butter, sugar, flour, baking powder, cream of tartar, milk, egg whites, and almond extract.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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White Cake

Why it works: Flour and almond are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,673 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

White Cake

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Make the batter

  1. Cream the butter and gradually add the sugar, beating constantly.

  2. Mix and sift the flour, baking powder, cream of tartar, and salt.

  3. Add the dry mixture alternately with the milk to the butter mixture.

  4. Stir in the almond extract.

  5. Cut and fold in the beaten egg whites, mixing well.

Bake

  1. Turn the mixture into two buttered brick-shaped bread pans, filling each two-thirds full.

  2. Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) for 45 minutes.

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.

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.

  1. Flour + almondtop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,673 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  2. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  3. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  4. Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

  5. Butter + almondtop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,245 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Egg whites
Whipped into foam, they trap air that lifts and gives the cake its light, open crumb.
Pastry flour
Provides the starch and gluten structure that holds the cake together while it bakes.
Butter
Creamed with sugar to trap air and adds richness and tender texture.
Granulated sugar
Sweetens the cake and, creamed with butter, helps create a fine, even crumb.
Baking powder
Releases gas during baking, helping the cake rise.
Milk
Adds moisture and liquid that hydrates the flour and loosens the batter.

The step that matters

Folding in the egg whites. Beaten egg whites hold air that makes the cake light. Stirring or overmixing them deflates the foam, leading to a dense, heavy cake. Cut and fold gently until just combined.

“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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