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 ↓
Plain 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 your oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a bowl, cream the butter and sugar together.
Add the egg yolk and mix well.
In a separate bowl, combine the baking powder and flour.
Gradually add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture, alternating with the milk.
Stir in the nutmeg or flavor extract.
If using, fold in the melted chocolate or the mixed dried fruits/nuts coated in a teaspoon of flour.
Bake
In another bowl, beat the egg white until stiff peaks form, then gently fold it into the batter.
Pour the batter into a greased baking pan and bake for about 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Flour + nutmegtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,623 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + chocolatetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,404 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Milk + chocolatetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,128 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).
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
- Butter
- Creamed with sugar, it adds richness and a tender crumb.
- Sugar
- Creamed with butter, it sweetens the cake and helps give it a light texture.
- Egg
- The yolk enriches and binds the batter, while the whipped white adds lift and structure.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the batter, helping the cake rise.
- Flour
- Provides the structure that holds the cake together as it bakes.
- Milk
- Adds moisture and loosens the batter so it blends smoothly.
The step that matters
Folding in the stiffly beaten egg white. Folding gently keeps the air bubbles in the whipped white. Stirring or overmixing deflates them, which leads to a denser, flatter cake.
Swap the currant
The recipe marks currant as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, sugar, egg, flour, milk, nutmeg, chocolate):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits better
- Coconutfits better
- Currantthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, sugar, egg, flour, milk, nutmeg, chocolate. 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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