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 ↓
Hickory-nut Cake
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the batter
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Cream the sugar and butter together using a fork.
Beat the egg yolks and whites separately; the whites should be stiff.
Add the milk to the creamed butter and sugar, then stir in the egg yolks.
Sift the flour and baking powder together, then mix it into the batter.
Fold in the hickory nuts quickly.
Bake
Pour the batter into a large cake dish, filling it about an inch from the bottom.
Bake until a straw inserted in the thickest part 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.
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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 + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Nuts + flourtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,180 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 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).
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
- Eggs
- Whipped whites add lift, while yolks enrich the batter and help bind it.
- Butter
- Creaming with sugar traps air and adds richness and tenderness to the crumb.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cake and helps the creamed butter hold air for a lighter texture.
- Flour
- Forms the cake's structure once mixed with the liquid and eggs.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the batter to help the cake rise.
- Hickory nuts
- Add nutty flavour and a rich, chewy texture to the crumb.
The step that matters
Folding in the stiff egg whites. Whipped whites hold the air that lifts the cake. Overmixing or deflating them with vigorous stirring makes the cake dense. Fold gently and quickly so the batter keeps its volume.
Swap the nuts
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, butter, sugar, milk, flour):
- Almondfits better
- Chestnutfits better
- Milletfits better
- Nutsthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, butter, sugar, milk, flour. 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.
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