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 ↓
Sunshine 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
In a large mixing bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff and dry.
Gradually add the confectioners' sugar while beating constantly.
In a separate bowl, beat the egg yolks until thick and light.
Fold the yolk mixture into the egg white mixture.
Add the orange extract and gently fold in the sifted pastry flour mixed with cream of tartar.
Sift the sugar several times and sift the flour before measuring, then sift it five times after measuring.
Bake
Pour the batter into an ungreased angel cake pan.
Bake for 50 minutes at 350°F (175°C).
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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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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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).
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Orange + sugartop 20% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together19,212 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Flour + creamtop 20% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together30,481 recipes
Shared aroma: acetaldehyde (pungent, ethereal).
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
- Egg whites
- Whipped into a foam that gives the cake its light, airy structure.
- Egg yolks
- Add richness and tenderness to the batter once folded into the whites.
- Pastry flour
- Provides the light starch structure that sets around the foam as the cake bakes.
- Confectioners' sugar
- Sweetens the batter and stabilizes the whipped whites as it dissolves into them.
- Cream of tartar
- Acidifies the whites, helping them whip to a stable, fine-celled foam.
The step that matters
Folding the yolk mixture into the egg whites. Folding gently preserves the air trapped in the whipped whites. Stirring or deflating the foam makes the cake dense and reduces its rise in the oven.
Swap the orange
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, flour, sugar, cream):
- Raisinfits better
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Orangethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, flour, sugar, 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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