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 ↓
Cocoa-nut 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. The book gives no cooking times; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Make the cake
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Beat the egg yolks with sugar until creamy.
Add butter and sweet milk, mixing well.
Gradually stir in flour, baking soda, and cream of tartar.
Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.
Fold the egg whites into the batter gently.
Pour the batter into a greased cake pan and bake for 25-30 minutes.
Frost and finish
Beat the egg whites with sugar until stiff, then mix in soaked cocoa-nut.
Spread frosting between layers and on top of the cake, sprinkling additional cocoa-nut on top.
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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Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Milk + cocoatop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together643 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).
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
- Egg yolks
- Add richness and tenderness, and help bind the batter.
- Egg whites
- Whipped to stiff peaks, they lighten the batter and give the frosting its airy structure.
- Flour
- Forms the structure of the cake as the batter sets in the oven.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the cream of tartar and batter acidity to produce gas that helps the cake rise.
- Cream of tartar
- Acidifies the batter, supporting the baking soda's rise and stabilizing the whipped whites.
- Butter
- Adds fat for moisture, tenderness and flavor.
The step that matters
Fold the egg whites into the batter gently. Whipped egg whites hold air that gives the cake its lift. Vigorous stirring knocks that air out, leaving a denser, flatter cake.
Swap the cocoa
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar, butter, milk, flour, cream):
- Almondfits better
- Pistachiofits better
- Chestnutfits better
- Cocoathe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sugar, butter, milk, flour, cream. 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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