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 ↓
Lemon Cake
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point. The book gives no cooking times either; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare the batter
Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a large bowl, cream together the butter and powdered sugar until light and fluffy.
Separate the eggs, beating the yolks and whites in separate bowls.
Dissolve the baking soda in the sweet milk and mix well.
Gradually add the flour to the butter mixture, alternating with the milk mixture.
Stir in the lemon juice and grated lemon zest.
Fold in the beaten egg whites gently until just combined.
Bake
Pour the batter into a greased cake pan and bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
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.
-
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).
-
Milk + lemontop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,053 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, 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
- Eggs
- Yolks enrich the batter, while whipped whites add lift and a light crumb.
- Unsalted butter
- Creamed with sugar, it traps air and gives a tender, rich texture.
- Powdered sugar
- Creaming with butter adds sweetness and helps create a fine, even crumb.
- All-purpose flour
- Provides the structure that sets the cake as the eggs and baking soda work.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic lemon juice to release gas that helps the cake rise.
- Fresh lemon
- Juice adds acidity and brightness, while zest adds aromatic lemon flavour.
The step that matters
Fold in the beaten egg whites gently until just combined. Egg whites hold air that gives the cake its lift. Vigorous stirring knocks that air out and can make the cake dense and tough, so fold only until no streaks remain.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, egg, butter, milk, flour):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits better
- Figfits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, egg, butter, milk, flour. 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.
More lemon cake recipes
You might also like
Lemon Ice147 recipes
Lemon Sherbet103 recipes
Lemon Custard64 recipes
Lemon Water Ice55 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.