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 ↓
Delicious 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 the batter
Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar.
Add the beaten egg yolks and mix well.
In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form, then fold them into the mixture.
Dissolve the baking soda in the milk and add it to the batter.
Rub the cream of tartar into the flour, then gradually add the flour to the batter.
Flavor the batter with almond extract and mix until smooth.
Bake
Pour the batter into a greased cake pan and bake for 30-35 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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Flour + almondtop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,673 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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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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Butter + almondtop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,245 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Yolks add richness and structure, while whipped whites trap air that lifts the cake.
- Butter
- Fat that creamed with sugar carries air and gives the crumb a tender texture.
- White sugar
- Sweetens the cake and helps it brown while creaming holds air in the batter.
- Flour
- Provides the protein and starch that form the cake's structure as it bakes.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acid in the batter to release carbon dioxide, helping the cake rise.
- Cream of tartar
- Acid that works with the baking soda to add lift and steadies the whipped egg whites.
The step that matters
Folding in the beaten egg whites. Stiff peaks trap air that expands in the oven and gives the cake its lift. Stirring hard or overmixing deflates the foam, leaving a denser, heavier crumb.
“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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