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 ↓
Walnut 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.
Make the batter
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a large bowl, cream together the sugar and butter until light and fluffy.
Add the milk and mix well.
Gradually stir in the flour and baking powder until combined.
In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form, then gently fold them into the batter.
Bake and fill
Pour the batter into a greased cake pan and bake for 25‑30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
For the filling, prepare a boiled frosting and stir in the chopped walnuts.
Once the cake is cool, frost with the walnut filling.
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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Flour + walnuttop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,873 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 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).
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 the cake and give it a light crumb.
- Butter
- Creamed with sugar to trap air and add richness and tender texture.
- Flour
- Forms the structure that holds the cake together as it sets in the oven.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the batter during baking, helping the cake rise.
- White sugar
- Sweetens the cake and, creamed with butter, helps create a tender texture.
- Milk
- Adds moisture and helps form a smooth batter that bakes into a soft cake.
The step that matters
Folding in the egg whites. Stiff egg whites hold air that makes the cake light. Stirring them vigorously deflates the foam, so they should be folded in gently until just combined.
Swap the walnut
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, butter, milk, flour, egg):
- Almondfits better
- Chestnutfits about as well
- Milletfits about as well
- Walnutthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, butter, milk, flour, 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.
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