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Dessert

Strawberries

A layered cake with strawberries, whipped cream, and vanilla cream.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Vanilla and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,187 recipes. Both carry ethyl caproate, which smells fruity, apple peel. The science ↓

Strawberries

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).

  2. Prepare three cake rings.

  3. Divide the batter equally among the rings.

  4. Bake for 30 minutes.

  5. Allow the cakes to cool for 30 minutes.

  6. Remove the cakes from the rings.

  7. Thoroughly clean the strawberries.

  8. Set the strawberries aside.

Assemble and serve

  1. Place one cake on a dessert dish.

  2. Spread 2 tablespoons of whipped cream on the cake.

  3. Top the cake with half the strawberries.

  4. Sprinkle the cake with powdered sugar.

  5. Add another cake layer.

  6. Repeat the cream and strawberry steps.

  7. Top with the final cake.

  8. Sprinkle the top with more powdered sugar.

  9. Decorate the top with 6 tablespoons of whipped vanilla cream using a pastry bag.

  10. Serve the cake.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Vanilla + milktop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,187 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

  2. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  3. Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  4. Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together35,032 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  5. Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 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

All-purpose flour
Forms the main structure of the cake layers.
Butter
Adds fat for tenderness and rich flavor in the cake.
Egg
Binds the batter and adds structure and richness.
Strawberries
Provide fresh fruit flavor, moisture and sweetness between the layers.
Baking soda
Reacts with acid in the batter to help the cake rise.
Cream of tartar
Acidifies the batter, stabilizing it and supporting a lighter rise.

The step that matters

Cooling the cakes before assembling. Warm cake layers melt the whipped cream and make the layers slide or sog. Cooling fully lets the cream hold and keeps the structure firm when stacked.

“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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