Why it works: Flour and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Pound 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.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Make the batter
Cream the butter and sugar until very light and fluffy.
Beat the egg yolks and whites separately.
Add the yolks to the butter and sugar mixture, then fold in the beaten whites.
Sift the baking powder with the flour and gradually add it to the mixture.
Beat the batter until very light.
Bake
Pour the batter into two well-greased cake pans lined with parchment paper.
Bake until golden, starting at a lower temperature.
Increase the temperature slightly after the cake has risen.
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.
-
Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
-
Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
-
Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Flour and butter 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
- All-purpose flour
- Provides the starch and gluten that form the cake's structure as it sets.
- Granulated sugar
- Sweetens the cake and helps it brown while creaming aerates the batter.
- Eggs
- Add structure and richness, and the beaten whites help lift the batter.
- Unsalted butter
- Adds fat for tender texture and flavour, and traps air when creamed with sugar.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the batter so the cake rises and becomes light.
The step that matters
Increase the oven temperature only after the cake has risen. Starting low lets the batter rise fully before the crust sets. Raising the heat too early can brown the outside while the centre stays underbaked.
“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 pound cake recipes
You might also like
White Cake431 recipes
Orange Bundt Cake349 recipes
Spice Cake344 recipes
Tapioca Pudding317 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.