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 ↓
Composition 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 and mix the batter
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C) and prepare the cake pans.
In a bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
Add the egg yolks and mix well.
Dissolve the baking soda in a little of the sour milk.
Add the dissolved baking soda to the mixture.
Gradually add the flour and remaining sour milk, mixing until smooth.
Fold in the egg whites gently until just combined.
Roll the plum pieces in flour and fold them into the batter.
Bake
Pour the batter into the prepared pans.
Bake immediately for about 45-60 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.
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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Plum + brandytop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together168 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Milk + plumtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together406 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Flour and butter 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
- Eggs
- Yolks enrich the batter, and whipped whites add lightness and structure as the cake sets.
- Butter
- Creaming with sugar traps air and gives the cake a tender, rich crumb.
- All-purpose flour
- Its proteins and starch form the cake's main structure as it bakes.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic sour milk to produce gas that helps the cake rise.
- Sour milk
- Its acidity activates the baking soda and adds moisture and tenderness.
- Plums
- Add moisture, tartness and fruit flavour that contrasts with the sweet batter.
The step that matters
Bake immediately after adding the egg whites and plums. Baking soda starts releasing gas as soon as it meets the acidic sour milk, and the whipped egg whites lose their lift if the batter waits. Delay lets the batter lose rise and produce a denser cake.
Swap the plum
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, sugar, butter, milk, egg, brandy, nutmeg):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits better
- Figfits better
- Plumthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, sugar, butter, milk, egg, brandy, nutmeg. 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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