Why it works: Sugar and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 35,032 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Sunshine 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
Sift the pastry flour and cream of tartar together three times.
Separate the eggs, setting aside 8 yolks.
Make the batter
Beat the 3 remaining yolks until thick and light.
Whip the egg whites to a stiff, dry froth.
Gently fold the beaten yolks into the whipped egg whites.
Carefully add the sugar, vanilla, and flour, mixing with as few strokes as possible.
Pour the batter into an ungreased pan.
Bake and cool
Bake at 350°F (175°C) for about 45 minutes.
Turn the pan upside down on supports to cool.
Let the cake cool until it falls out.
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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Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Flour + vanillatop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,241 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Cream + vanillatop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together12,301 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).
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
- Whipped whites trap air and build the light, airy structure of the cake.
- Pastry flour
- Provides the starch that sets during baking to give the cake its structure.
- Granulated sugar
- Sweetens the cake and helps keep the whipped egg white foam stable.
- Cream of tartar
- Acidifies the egg whites, stabilizing the foam so it holds its volume.
The step that matters
Folding in the flour and sugar. Overmixing deflates the whipped egg white foam that gives the cake its lift, which makes the cake dense and tough. Using as few strokes as possible keeps the air in the batter.
Swap the vanilla
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, cream, egg, sugar):
- Raisinfits about as well
- Vanillathe original
- Figfits less well
- Strawberryfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, cream, egg, sugar. 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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