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 ↓
Luncheon Cake
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the batter
Cream the butter and sugar together until smooth.
Add the currants and mix well.
Beat the egg yolks until light and fluffy, then add to the mixture.
Whip the egg whites until stiff peaks form and fold them into the batter.
Sift the flour and baking powder together, then gradually mix into the batter.
Stir in the milk until combined.
Bake
Pour the batter into a greased baking pan and bake at 400°F (200°C) 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.
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
- Eggs
- Yolks enrich and bind the batter, while whipped whites lighten its texture and help it rise.
- All-purpose flour
- Gluten and starch form the cake's main structure once the batter is set by heat.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas when heated, leavening the batter so it rises and becomes light.
- Butter
- Fat coats flour particles and adds richness, tenderness and a softer crumb.
- Moist sugar
- Adds sweetness and moisture, and helps the batter brown in the oven.
- Milk
- Hydrates the flour so gluten can form, and adds moisture to the batter.
The step that matters
Folding in the egg whites. Whites hold air only when whipped to stiff peaks. Folding gently keeps that air in the batter; stirring vigorously knocks it out, so the cake rises less and turns out denser.
Swap the currant
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, sugar, egg, flour, milk):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits better
- Figfits better
- Currantthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, sugar, egg, flour, milk. 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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