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 ↓
Fig 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
Cream the butter and sugar together.
Sift the flour with the baking powder twice, then add it alternately with the milk to the creamed mixture, beating well.
Fold in the beaten egg whites gently.
Bake and fill
Divide the batter between two cake pans and bake at 350°F (175°C) until golden.
For the filling, chop the figs finely, then combine with ½ cup sugar and boiling water.
Cook on the stove until a smooth paste forms, adding more water if too stiff.
Once cooled, spread the fig filling between the baked cake layers.
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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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Milk + figtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,026 recipes
Shared aroma: methyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + figtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,192 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).
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
- Butter
- Creaming with sugar traps air and gives the cake a tender, rich crumb.
- All-purpose flour
- Builds the cake's structure as its proteins set during baking.
- Egg whites
- Beaten and folded in, they add lift and a light, airy texture.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas during baking, helping the cake rise.
- Figs
- Chopped and cooked into a paste, they provide the filling's flavour and body.
The step that matters
Cooking the fig filling to a smooth paste. Figs thicken as their pectin and starch set while cooking, so the paste must be cooked long enough to firm up but kept loose enough to spread. Adding water only when stiff helps prevent scorching and keeps the texture spreadable.
Swap the fig
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, sugar, flour, milk, egg):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits better
- Figthe original
- Coconutfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, sugar, flour, milk, egg. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“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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