Why it works: Milk and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,187 recipes. Both carry ethyl caproate, which smells fruity, apple peel. The science ↓
Gold 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
Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
Add the egg yolks one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and cream of tartar.
Gradually add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture, alternating with the milk.
Stir in the vanilla extract.
Bake and finish
Pour the batter into a greased cake pan and bake for 25-30 minutes.
Let cool and frost with yellow frosting.
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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Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,187 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
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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 + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 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
- Adds fat and richness, and helps give the cake a tender crumb.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cake and, creamed with butter, traps air that helps it rise.
- Flour
- Provides the structure that holds the cake together as it bakes.
- Egg yolks
- Add richness and moisture, and help bind the batter.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acid in the batter to release gas that lifts the cake.
- Cream of tartar
- Acts as the acid that activates the baking soda for rising.
The step that matters
Gradually add the dry ingredients, alternating with the milk. Adding the flour in portions alternated with the milk keeps the batter smooth and evenly mixed. Overmixing once the flour is in develops gluten, which can make the cake tough and dense.
“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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