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 ↓
Bride 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 the batter
Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
Add the milk and mix well.
In another bowl, combine the flour and baking powder, then gradually add to the butter mixture.
Gently fold in the beaten egg whites until fully incorporated.
Flavor the batter with rose or almond extract as desired.
Bake
Pour the batter into a greased cake pan and bake for about 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
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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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + sugartop 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).
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
- Egg whites
- Beaten and folded in, they trap air that helps the cake rise and become light.
- All-purpose flour
- Provides the structure that sets as the cake bakes.
- Butter
- Creamed with sugar, it adds richness and a tender crumb.
- Sugar
- Creamed with butter, it sweetens and helps give the cake a fine texture and browning.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas during baking, helping the cake rise.
- Milk
- Adds moisture and helps form a smooth batter.
The step that matters
Folding in the egg whites. Egg whites hold air only while it is intact, so folding gently keeps the batter light. Overmixing deflates the foam, leading to a denser cake with less rise.
“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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