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 ↓
Pound Cake
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a slow oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C).
Make the batter
Cream the sugar and butter together until well combined.
Add the beaten eggs and mix well.
Gradually add the flour and baking powder, mixing until smooth.
Add milk or cream to achieve a pourable consistency.
Bake
Pour the batter into a greased 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.
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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Flour + milktop 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).
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Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 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
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness, and creaming it with sugar traps air that gives a tender crumb.
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and add structure as they set during baking.
- All-purpose flour
- Provides the main structure that holds the cake together as it bakes.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cake and helps browning, and creams with butter to aerate the batter.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the batter so the cake rises and lightens as it bakes.
The step that matters
Creaming the sugar and butter. Beating them together until well combined traps air in the fat, which helps the cake rise and gives it a fine, tender texture. Under-creamed butter leaves a dense, heavy 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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