Why it works: Sugar and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 92,116 recipes. Both carry phenylacetaldehyde, which smells hawthorne, honey. The science ↓
Ice Water Sponge 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
Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C).
Make the batter
Beat the egg yolks and sugar with 1 tablespoon of water until well combined.
Mix the flour and baking powder.
Gradually add the flour mixture to the yolk mixture, alternating with the ice water.
Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form, then gently fold them into the batter.
Bake
Pour the batter into a greased cake pan and bake for about 25-30 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.
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 + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Flour and egg 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
- Whites beaten to stiff peaks trap air, lifting the sponge; yolks add richness and structure.
- Flour
- Provides the starch and gluten network that sets the cake's structure as it bakes.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cake and helps hold moisture and a tender crumb in the batter.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas when heated, helping the cake rise and become light.
- Ice water
- Adds moisture to the batter; its cold temperature keeps the batter from warming and deflating too soon.
The step that matters
Folding in the egg whites. Stiff whites hold the air that makes the sponge light. Folding gently, rather than stirring, keeps that air from collapsing, so the cake rises well instead of turning dense.
“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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