Why it works: Sugar and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 92,116 recipes. Both carry phenylacetaldehyde, which smells hawthorne, honey. The science ↓
Spongecakes, Iced
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 sponge
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Beat the yolks of the eggs with the sugar until combined.
Add the flour and mix well.
Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form and gently fold them into the yolk mixture until fully combined.
Pour the batter into a buttered and lined baking tin, spreading it evenly to about 1 inch thick.
Bake in the oven until golden and a toothpick comes out clean.
Ice and serve
Let the cake cool, then cut it into fancy shapes.
Spread jam over each piece and top with icing made from beaten egg whites and fine sugar.
Add a few drops of lemon juice to the icing and mix until stiff.
Cover the icing with a wet cloth until ready to use.
Allow the iced cakes to set in a warm place before serving.
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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Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + lemontop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together30,404 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Egg + lemontop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together44,316 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
Egg and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 106,462 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 whites give the sponge its light structure, while yolks add richness and colour.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the batter and helps the yolks whip into a stable, airy mixture.
- All-purpose flour
- Provides the starch and gluten that set the sponge's crumb once baked.
- Jam
- Adds sweetness and fruity flavour between the cake and the icing.
- Fine sugar
- Sweetens the icing and helps the egg white topping hold its stiff form.
The step that matters
Folding the egg whites into the yolk mixture. Overmixing knocks air out of the whipped whites, so the sponge bakes up dense instead of light and airy.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar, flour):
- Raisinfits better
- Vanillafits better
- Lemonthe original
- Figfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sugar, flour. 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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