Why it works: Sugar and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 92,116 recipes. Both carry phenylacetaldehyde, which smells hawthorne, honey. The science ↓
Sponge Cake
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare and mix
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Beat the egg yolks until light, then add the powdered sugar.
Gradually mix in the flour and beaten egg whites.
Sift the baking powder with the last half cup of flour and fold it in.
Quickly stir in the hot water until well combined.
Bake
Pour the batter into a greased cake pan and bake for 40 minutes.
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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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).
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Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Flour and egg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 106,462 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
- Egg whites add air and structure, while yolks add richness and help the cake set.
- All-purpose flour
- Provides the starch and gluten that set the cake's structure as it bakes.
- Powdered sugar
- Sweetens the batter and helps give the cake a fine, tender crumb.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the batter, helping the cake rise in the oven.
The step that matters
Quickly stir in the hot water. Baking powder starts releasing gas once wet and heat speeds this up, so the batter should go into the pan and oven promptly to keep the rise. Overmixing after the flour is added can also toughen the crumb.
“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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