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 ↓
Jelly Cake
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Make the batter
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
Beat the egg whites in a bowl until stiff peaks form.
In another bowl, mix the sugar, butter, milk, flour, and baking powder until smooth.
Gently fold the beaten egg whites into the mixture.
Pour the batter into a large oblong baking pan to form a thin layer.
Repeat the process with the yolks instead of the whites to make a second batter.
Bake and assemble
Bake both layers until golden and set.
While the layers are warm, spread jelly or preserves on one layer and stack the layers together.
Roll the cake or cut it into sections, layering jelly between each piece.
Finish
If desired, make a third layer using red sand sugar and stack it with the yellow and white layers.
Lightly frost the top and serve.
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.
-
Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
-
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
- Egg whites
- Whipped into a foam that traps air, giving the thin layers lift and a light crumb.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the batter and helps keep the crumb tender.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and a softer, more tender texture.
- Flour
- Provides the structure that holds the thin layers together.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas during baking so the thin layers rise.
- Jelly or preserves
- Adds sweetness, moisture and fruit flavor between the layers.
The step that matters
Folding in the beaten egg whites. Stirring vigorously or overmixing deflates the whipped foam that gives the layers their lift. Fold gently, just until no white streaks remain, so the batter keeps its air and bakes up light rather than dense.
“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 jelly cake recipes
You might also like
White Cake431 recipes
Pound Cake373 recipes
Orange Bundt Cake349 recipes
Spice Cake344 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.