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Dessert

Berwick Sponge Cake

A sponge cake made with sugar, eggs, baking soda, cream of tartar, flour, and cold water.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Sugar and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 43,450 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓

Berwick Sponge Cake

Oven, in the book's wordsA quick oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare the batter

  1. Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).

  2. In a large bowl, beat together the sugar and eggs until well combined.

  3. Dissolve the baking soda in the cold water and add it to the mixture.

  4. Stir in the cream of tartar.

  5. Gradually mix in the flour until just combined.

  6. Pour the batter into a prepared cake pan.

Bake

  1. Bake for 30 minutes, testing with a broom straw; it should come out clean.

  2. Do not remove the cake from the oven until it is fully baked to ensure it remains light.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

  2. Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together92,116 recipes

    Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).

  3. Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together106,462 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  4. Cream + flourtop 20% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together30,481 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetaldehyde (pungent, ethereal).

  5. Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together122,807 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

Egg and flour 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
Beaten with sugar, they trap air and give the sponge its light, airy structure.
All-purpose flour
Its proteins form gluten and set the crumb once the cake bakes.
Fine white sugar
Beaten with the eggs, it helps hold air and adds sweetness and tender texture.
Baking soda
Reacts with the acidic cream of tartar to release gas that helps the cake rise.
Cream of tartar
Acidifies the batter so it reacts with baking soda, producing lift and a finer crumb.

The step that matters

Leaving the cake in the oven until fully baked. Opening the oven or removing the cake before the centre sets can cause the rising structure to collapse. Testing with a broom straw confirms the crumb is set and the cake will stay light.

“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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