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Dessert

Nice Layer Cake

A multi-layered cake with custard filling and icing.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 15 ingredients
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Why it works: Milk and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,187 recipes. Both carry ethyl caproate, which smells fruity, apple peel. The science ↓

Nice Layer 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.

Make the cake

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).

  2. Cream together the sugar and butter.

  3. Add the egg whites and mix well.

  4. Stir in the milk, baking powder, and flour until combined.

  5. Add vanilla flavoring and mix again.

  6. Divide the batter into three or four layers and bake until golden.

Make the custard

  1. For the custard, combine the egg yolks, sugar, milk, butter, and cornstarch in a saucepan.

  2. Cook over medium heat, stirring until thickened.

Make the icing

  1. For the icing, boil the sugar and water together.

  2. Add the hot syrup to the beaten egg whites and mix until glossy.

  3. If desired, add chocolate or cocoa to the icing.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,187 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

  2. Vanilla + chocolatetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,020 recipes

    Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).

  3. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  4. Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together35,032 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  5. Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together124,287 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 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 and set the structure, while yolks thicken the custard.
Butter
Adds fat for a tender crumb and rich flavor.
Flour
Forms the cake's structure once its proteins set during baking.
Sugar
Sweetens the cake and helps it brown, and dissolves into the icing syrup.
Baking powder
Releases gas during baking so the layers rise.
Cornstarch
Thickens the custard as it heats with the milk.

The step that matters

Adding the hot syrup to the egg whites. The syrup must be boiled to the right temperature and poured in a thin stream while beating. This cooks the egg whites into a stable, glossy foam. Pouring too fast or using under-cooked syrup can leave the icing runny or loose.

“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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