Why it works: Sugar and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 43,450 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓
Graham Sponge Cake
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a good oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
In warm weather, cool the fresh eggs by dropping them into ice water.
Sift the cream of tartar through the flour at least twice.
Make the batter
Beat the yolks, lemon juice, and sugar together.
Stir in the flour.
Add the dissolved baking soda and the whipped egg whites. Beat moderately.
Bake
Pour the batter into a well-oiled cake pan lined with white paper.
Bake in a preheated oven at 400°F (200°C) for about 20 minutes, testing with a broom straw.
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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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Flour + sugartop 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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Flour + lemontop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together30,404 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Flour and egg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 106,462 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 give the cake its light, airy structure.
- Graham flour
- Provides the bulk and structure that holds the sponge together while it bakes.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cake and helps stabilize the egg foam and give a tender crumb.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acid in the batter to produce gas that helps the cake rise.
- Cream of tartar
- Acidifies the batter, reacting with the baking soda and stabilizing the egg whites.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity that works with the baking soda and brightens the flavor.
The step that matters
Adding the dissolved baking soda and whipped whites. Once the acid and baking soda meet, gas forms quickly, so the batter should be mixed gently and baked promptly. Overbeating knocks air out of the whipped whites and the cake may fall or turn dense.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, sugar, egg, cream):
- Raisinfits better
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits about as well
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, sugar, egg, cream. 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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