Why it works: Butter and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Lemon Cake
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
In a bowl, cream together the sugar and butter using the back of a wooden spoon.
On a plate, mix the baking powder and flour together.
In a bowl, beat the eggs and grate the lemon rind into them, then add the lemon juice.
Make the batter
Gradually add the flour mixture and beaten eggs to the butter and sugar, beating continuously.
Bake
Line a cake tin with greased paper, pour in the mixture, and bake at 400°F (200°C) for 1 hour and 15 minutes.
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 + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 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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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Butter + lemontop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,227 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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Flour + lemontop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together30,404 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
- Creamed with sugar to trap air and give the cake a tender, rich texture.
- Sugar
- Creamed with butter to help hold air and add sweetness and browning.
- Eggs
- Provide structure as they set and help bind the batter and add richness.
- Flour
- Forms the structure of the cake as its proteins set during baking.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the batter, helping the cake rise and become light.
- Lemon
- Its rind adds aromatic flavour and its juice adds acidity and brightness.
The step that matters
Adding the flour mixture and eggs gradually while beating. Adding the dry and wet parts slowly and beating continuously keeps the batter smooth and emulsified. Adding them too fast can cause curdling, which can lead to a denser cake.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, butter, flour, egg):
- Raisinfits better
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits about as well
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, butter, flour, egg. 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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