Why it works: Milk and butter 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 ↓
Lemon 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.
Make the batter
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a bowl, cream the butter and sugar together.
Add the milk, lemon juice, and grated lemon rind, mixing well.
In another bowl, beat the egg yolks and then combine with the mixture.
Gradually add the flour and mix until smooth.
In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.
Fold the egg whites into the batter gently.
Bake and finish
Pour the batter into two greased cake pans.
Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
For the icing, mix the powdered sugar with lemon juice to taste until smooth.
Once the cakes are cool, layer them and spread the lemon icing on top.
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.
-
Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
-
Milk + lemontop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,053 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Flour and butter 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
- Egg yolks enrich the batter, while whipped whites add lift and a light, airy crumb.
- Flour
- Provides the structure that holds the cake together as it bakes.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cake and helps create a tender crumb when creamed with butter.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and a tender texture.
- Milk
- Adds moisture to the batter, helping it bake through softly.
- Lemon
- Its juice and rind add bright acidity and aroma to the cake and icing.
The step that matters
Folding in the egg whites. Whipped whites hold air that gives the cake its lift. Folding gently keeps that air in; vigorous stirring deflates the batter and leads to a denser cake.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, flour, sugar, milk, butter):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits better
- Figfits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, flour, sugar, milk, butter. 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.
More lemon cake recipes
You might also like
Lemon Ice147 recipes
Lemon Sherbet103 recipes
Lemon Custard64 recipes
Lemon Water Ice55 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.