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 ↓
Jelly Cake
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 the batter
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
Beat the egg whites with 1 tablespoon of sugar until stiff.
Cream the butter and 8 ounces of sugar together until light.
Add the egg yolks to the butter and sugar mixture and mix well.
Stir in half of the flour and baking powder, then half of the beaten egg whites.
Repeat with the remaining flour and egg whites.
Add the lemon extract and mix until combined.
Bake and assemble
Pour the mixture into well-buttered jelly cake plates, filling them half an inch deep.
Bake in the preheated oven until golden.
Spread with marmalade and layer the cakes, or roll them up, trim the ends, and slice into half-inch thick pieces.
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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Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Butter + strawberrytop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,149 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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Lemon + strawberrytop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,206 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 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
- Eggs
- Whites trap air for lift and the yolks add richness and structure to the crumb.
- Butter
- Creaming with sugar traps air and adds fat for a tender texture and flavor.
- Flour
- Provides the structure that holds the cake together once baked.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the batter so the thin cakes rise and turn light.
- White granulated sugar
- Sweetens the batter and helps the butter hold air when creamed.
- Strawberry or raspberry marmalade
- Adds sweetness and fruit flavor and moisture between the cake layers.
The step that matters
Folding in the beaten egg whites. Egg whites hold the air that lifts the cake, so they should be stirred in gently in portions. Deflating them by overmixing leads to a dense, flat cake.
Swap the strawberry
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, butter, egg, flour, lemon):
- Raisinfits better
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Strawberrythe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, butter, egg, flour, lemon. 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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