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 ↓
Sponge Cake
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a rather hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
Beat the egg yolks and sugar together until smooth.
In a separate bowl, mix 1 tablespoon of corn starch with flour, then add cream of tartar and baking soda; sift together three times.
Mix and bake
Combine the dry mixture with the egg yolk and sugar mixture.
Gently fold in the stiffly beaten egg whites.
Pour the batter into a prepared baking pan and bake until golden.
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 + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Flour + corntop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,165 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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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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Flour + creamtop 20% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together30,481 recipes
Shared aroma: acetaldehyde (pungent, ethereal).
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 trap air for lift, and yolks add richness and moisture to the crumb.
- Flour
- Provides the structure that holds the airy batter together as it bakes.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cake, softens the crumb, and helps the batter brown as it bakes.
- Corn starch
- Lightens the flour so the cake bakes up more tender and delicate.
- Cream of tartar
- Acidifies the egg whites, helping them whip into a more stable foam.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acid in the batter to release gas that helps the cake rise.
The step that matters
Gently fold in the stiffly beaten egg whites. Whipped egg whites hold the batter's air. Stirring vigorously knocks that air out, so the cake rises less and bakes up denser.
“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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