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 ↓
White Perfection 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.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a separate bowl, combine the flour, cornstarch, and baking powder.
Make the batter
Cream the butter and gradually add the powdered sugar, mixing until light and fluffy.
Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture alternately with the sweet milk, starting and ending with the dry ingredients.
In another bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.
Gently fold the egg whites into the batter until just combined.
Bake
Pour the batter into a greased cake pan and bake for 25-30 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.
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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 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).
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
- Butter
- Creamed with sugar to trap air, giving the cake a tender, rich crumb.
- Flour
- Provides the main structure that sets as the cake bakes.
- Egg whites
- Whipped to stiff peaks, they add lift and a light, airy texture.
- Cornstarch
- Softens the flour's gluten, producing a finer, more delicate crumb.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas during baking, helping the cake rise.
- Powdered sugar
- Sweetens the batter and helps create a fine, light texture when creamed.
The step that matters
Folding in the egg whites. Whipped egg whites hold air that gives the cake its lift. Stirring vigorously or overmixing deflates them, leaving a dense, flat cake. Fold gently, just until no streaks remain.
“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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