Why it works: Sugar and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 43,450 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓
Sunshine Cake
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.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Measure and sift the flour and sugar several times.
Separate the eggs, placing the whites in one bowl and the yolks in another.
Make the batter
Beat the yolks until light and stiff.
Beat the egg whites until foamy, then add the cream of tartar and beat until very stiff.
Cut and fold in the sugar, then add the yolks and any flavoring.
Fold in the flour gently.
Bake
Pour the batter into an angel food cake pan.
Bake for 45 to 50 minutes.
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.
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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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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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Cream + flourtop 20% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together30,481 recipes
Shared aroma: acetaldehyde (pungent, ethereal).
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Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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
- Egg whites
- Beaten into a foam, they trap air that lifts the cake and gives it its light structure.
- Cream of tartar
- Acidifies the whites, helping the foam stay stable and hold its volume while baking.
- Granulated sugar
- Sweetens the cake and strengthens the whipped foam, helping it resist collapsing.
- All-purpose flour
- Provides the protein-based structure that sets the cake's crumb as it bakes.
- Egg yolks
- Add richness, moisture and tenderness to the crumb.
The step that matters
Fold in the flour gently. The batter's rise depends on the air trapped in the whipped whites. Heavy stirring deflates that foam, so the cake bakes dense instead of light.
“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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