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Dessert

Polonaise Cake

A layered butter cake with powdered sugar frosting and chopped macaroons, crystallized fruit, almonds, citron, almond extract, and rose water.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 13 ingredients
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Why it works: Flour and almond are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,673 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Polonaise 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.

Make the layers

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

  2. Cream the butter and gradually add the powdered sugar until light and fluffy.

  3. Mix in the flour, baking powder, and milk until well combined.

  4. Divide the batter into four layers.

  5. Bake the layers until golden.

Make the filling

  1. For the filling, boil 3 cups of powdered sugar with a little water until brittle.

  2. Pour the hot sugar over the beaten egg whites, and stir until cool.

Assemble and frost

  1. On the first layer, spread the chopped macaroons mixed with some frosting.

  2. On the second layer, spread the chopped crystallized fruit mixed with frosting and lemon flavor.

  3. On the third layer, spread the chopped almonds and citron mixed with frosting, almond extract, and rose water.

  4. Frost the top layer with the remaining frosting mixed with a little crystallized fruit.

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. Flour + almondtop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,673 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

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

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

  3. Butter + almondtop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,245 recipes

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

  4. Almond + rosetop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,465 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  5. Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together124,287 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

Flour
Provides the structure that holds the cake layers together.
Butter
Adds fat for a tender crumb and rich flavor.
Baking powder
Releases gas during baking so the layers rise.
Egg whites
Beaten foam gives the filling lightness and helps it set as it cools.
Powdered sugar
Provides sweetness and, when boiled, the brittle sugar for the filling.
Almonds
Add chopped texture and nutty flavor to the filling layer.

The step that matters

Pouring the boiled sugar over the egg whites. Sugar boiled to a brittle stage sets firm as it cools. Pouring it slowly and stirring steadily cooks the beaten whites and builds a stable filling, while pouring too fast can deflate the foam.

“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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