Why it works: Flour and butter 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 ↓
German Pound Cake
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. The book gives no cooking times; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Line a cake tin with buttered paper, using three rounds at the bottom.
Make the batter
Beat the butter and sugar together until creamy.
Gradually add the sifted flour and eggs, one at a time, mixing well.
Fold in the sultanas, chopped candied peel, and lemon zest.
Bake and cool
Pour the batter into the prepared tin and bake for 2 hours.
Once baked, turn the cake out onto a wire rack to cool.
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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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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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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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).
Flour and butter 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
- Flour
- Provides the structure that holds the cake's crumb together as it bakes.
- Butter
- Creamed with sugar to trap air and add richness and a tender texture.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cake and helps create a light, creamy texture when beaten with butter.
- Eggs
- Add structure, moisture and richness, binding the batter as it sets in the oven.
- Sultanas
- Add sweetness and chewy pockets of fruit throughout the cake.
- Candied peel
- Adds concentrated sweetness and a bright, citrusy flavour.
The step that matters
Beating the butter and sugar until creamy. Creaming softens the butter and traps air in the fat, which gives the cake lift and a fine, even crumb. Under-beaten butter leaves a dense cake.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, butter, sugar, egg):
- Raisinfits better
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits about as well
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, butter, sugar, 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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