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 ↓
Layer 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.
Make the batter
In a bowl, stir together the sugar, egg, and softened butter until well combined.
Add the milk and mix well.
Sift the flour with the baking powder and gradually add to the mixture.
Beat until smooth and creamy.
Bake
Pour the batter into two greased layer cake pans.
Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) until done.
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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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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Egg + flourtop 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
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and add structure as they set during baking.
- Butter
- Adds fat and tenderness, and richness to the crumb.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cake and helps it brown and stay moist.
- Flour
- Forms the structure that holds the cake's crumb together as it bakes.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the batter so the cake rises and turns light.
- Milk
- Adds moisture and liquid to hydrate the flour into batter.
The step that matters
Beating the batter until smooth and creamy. Creaming and beating incorporate air into the fat and sugar and fully hydrate the flour, which gives the cake its lift and even crumb. Under-mixing leaves lumps and a dense texture, while over-mixing after the flour is added can toughen the cake by developing gluten.
“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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