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 ↓
Silver 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. The book gives no cooking times either; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare the batter
Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a large bowl, cream together sugar and butter until light and fluffy.
Add flour, sweet milk, baking soda, and cream of tartar; mix until smooth.
In a separate bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form, then gently fold them into the batter.
Add lemon or almond extract to taste.
Bake and frost
Pour batter into greased cake pan and bake for 25‑30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Let cake cool, then frost with white 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.
-
Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
-
Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Flour + milktop 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
- Egg whites
- Whipped to stiff peaks, they trap air that lifts and gives the cake a light, airy crumb.
- Butter
- Creamed with sugar to trap air and add richness and a tender texture.
- Flour
- Provides the structure that holds the cake's shape as it bakes.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acid in cream of tartar and milk to produce gas that helps the cake rise.
- Cream of tartar
- Acidifies the batter, helping stabilise the egg whites and react with baking soda for rise.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cake and, creamed with butter, helps create a light, fluffy batter.
The step that matters
Folding in the egg whites. Whipped whites hold air that gives the cake its lift. Stirring or folding too hard deflates them, leaving a dense cake, so fold gently until just combined.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, butter, flour, milk, cream, egg):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits better
- Coconutfits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, butter, flour, milk, cream, egg. 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.
You might also like
Lemon Cake228 recipes
Lemon Ice147 recipes
Lemon Sherbet103 recipes
Lemon Custard64 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.