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 ↓
White Nut 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.
Make the batter
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a bowl, cream together the sugar and butter.
Add the milk and mix well.
In another bowl, combine the sifted pastry flour and baking powder.
Gradually add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients, mixing until smooth.
Fold and bake
In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites with cream of tartar until stiff peaks form.
Gently fold the beaten egg whites and chopped walnuts into the batter.
Pour the batter into two square pans.
Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center 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.
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.
-
Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
-
Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Flour + walnuttop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,873 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 whites
- Whipped to stiff peaks, they lighten the batter and give the cake its airy rise.
- Pastry flour
- Provides the structure that holds the cake together as it bakes.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the batter, helping the cake rise and turn light.
- Butter
- Adds fat for tenderness and richness, and helps trap air when creamed with sugar.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cake and, creamed with butter, helps create a tender crumb.
- Walnut meats
- Add nutty flavour and a bit of texture throughout the cake.
The step that matters
Folding in the egg whites. Stiff egg white foam holds the air that lightens the cake. Stirring vigorously or overmixing deflates it, leaving a dense, flat result, so fold gently until just combined.
Swap the walnut
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, butter, milk, flour, egg, cream, meat):
- Almondfits better
- Walnutthe original
- Pistachiofits about as well
- Chestnutfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, butter, milk, flour, egg, cream, meat. 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.
More walnut cake recipes
You might also like
White Cake431 recipes
Pound Cake373 recipes
Orange Bundt Cake349 recipes
Spice Cake344 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.