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 ↓
Nut 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
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Make the batter
In a bowl, mix sugar, cream, and butter until smooth.
Add eggs and mix well.
Dissolve baking soda in milk and add to the mixture.
Stir in cream of tartar and nuts.
Bake
Pour the batter into a greased cake pan and bake for 30-35 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.
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.
-
Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
-
Milk + nutstop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together982 recipes
Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
-
Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and add structure to the crumb as they set.
- Butter
- Adds fat that tenderizes the crumb and carries flavor.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cake and helps the crust brown.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with acid in the batter to release gas that lifts the cake.
- Cream of tartar
- Supplies acid that reacts with baking soda to help the cake rise.
- Nuts
- Add texture and a toasty, rich flavor to the crumb.
The step that matters
Dissolving the baking soda in milk. Baking soda needs to be fully dissolved so it spreads evenly through the batter. Clumps can leave bitter, soapy patches and uneven rising, so dissolve it before adding it to the mixture.
Swap the nuts
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, cream, butter, egg, milk):
- Almondfits better
- Pecansfits better
- Filbertfits better
- Nutsthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, cream, butter, egg, milk. 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.
More nut cake recipes
You might also like
White Cake431 recipes
Pound Cake373 recipes
Orange Bundt Cake349 recipes
Spice Cake344 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.