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 ↓
Jelly Cake
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the batter
Cream together the sugar and butter.
Add the milk and mix well.
In a separate bowl, combine the baking powder with the flour, then add to the creamed mixture.
Fold in the frothed egg whites gently.
Bake and assemble
Pour the batter into jelly pans and bake at 350°F (175°C) until golden.
Once cool, spread jelly between the layers.
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 + 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).
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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 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 foam, they trap air that helps the cake rise and gives it a light crumb.
- Flour
- Provides the structure that holds the cake together as it bakes.
- Butter
- Adds fat for tenderness and richness, and helps carry flavor.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cake and, creamed with butter, helps give it a tender texture.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the batter, helping the cake rise in the oven.
- Milk
- Adds moisture and helps form a smooth batter that bakes evenly.
The step that matters
Fold in the frothed egg whites gently. Folding keeps the air bubbles in the whipped egg whites intact. Stirring or beating hard deflates them, which leads to a denser, flatter cake.
“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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