Why it works: Butter and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Pineapple Cake
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Make the batter
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a bowl, cream together the sugar and butter until light and fluffy.
Add the milk and mix well.
In another bowl, combine the flour and baking powder.
Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture, mixing until smooth.
Fold in the egg whites gently until fully incorporated.
Pour the batter into a greased cake pan and bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Fill and assemble
For the filling, beat the egg white and mix it with some pineapple juice to make a soft frosting.
Once the cake is cooled, spread some frosting on the first layer, add pineapple, then more frosting.
Repeat for additional layers if desired.
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 + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Milk + pineappletop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together885 recipes
Shared aroma: methyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).
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Lemon + pineappletop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,964 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 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
- Flour
- Provides the structure that holds the cake's crumb together as it bakes.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps create a tender crumb when creamed with butter.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and a tender texture.
- Egg whites
- Add structure and lightness, helping the cake rise and set as it bakes.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas during baking so the cake rises.
- Pineapple
- Adds moisture, fruity sweetness and acidity to the filling.
The step that matters
Fold in the egg whites gently until fully incorporated.. Egg whites trap air that gives the batter lift. Vigorous stirring deflates this foam, which can leave the cake denser and less risen.
Swap the pineapple
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, butter, milk, flour, egg, lemon):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits better
- Figfits better
- Pineapplethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, butter, milk, flour, egg, 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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