Why it works: Flour and almond are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,673 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Angel Cake
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a cool oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Sift the flour and cream of tartar five times.
Sift the sugar twice.
Paper the bottom of an ungreased tube pan.
Make the batter
Beat the egg whites to a stiff froth.
Gradually add the sugar to the egg whites.
Fold in the flour and add the extract.
Bake and cool
Bake in a cool oven at 300°F (150°C) for 45 minutes to 1 hour.
When baked, invert the pan and let it stand until cold.
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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Flour + almondtop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,673 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Cream + sugartop 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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Cream + almondtop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,130 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-heptanol (bitter, floral).
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
- Eggs
- Whipped whites trap air, giving the cake its light, airy structure.
- Cream of tartar
- Stabilizes the whipped egg whites so they hold their foam longer.
- All-purpose flour
- Provides the structure that sets the cake once it is baked.
- Granulated sugar
- Sweetens the cake and helps stabilize the beaten egg white foam.
- Almond extract or vanilla extract
- Adds aroma and flavor to the mild cake.
The step that matters
Fold in the flour and add the extract. Folding gently preserves the air whipped into the egg whites. Stirring or deflating the batter makes the cake dense and reduces its 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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