Why it works: Cream and sugar 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 ↓
Angel Food
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a slow oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the batter
Sift together cream of tartar and flour three times.
Beat egg whites until very stiff.
Lightly whip in the sugar, then fold in the sifted flour.
Bake and cool
Pour the batter into ungreased round cake pans with a tube in the center.
Bake at 300°F (150°C) for 40 to 50 minutes.
Invert the pan on the tube to cool for an hour before removing the cake.
Finish
Ice the bottom and sides with confectioner's icing.
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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Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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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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Cream + flourtop 20% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together30,481 recipes
Shared aroma: acetaldehyde (pungent, ethereal).
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Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Flour and egg 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
- Whipped into a stiff foam that provides the cake's airy structure and lift.
- All-purpose flour
- Sets the structure of the cake once the batter is baked.
- Granulated sugar
- Stabilizes the whipped egg white foam and sweetens the cake.
- Cream of tartar
- Acidifies the egg whites, helping them whip to a stable, higher-volume foam.
The step that matters
Beat the egg whites until very stiff. Under-whipped whites will not hold enough air to lift the batter, while over-beaten whites turn dry and grainy and collapse in the oven. The foam is the cake's only leavening, so its volume determines the final texture.
“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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