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 ↓
White Cake
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
Make the batter
Stir in the milk and flour alternately, reserving ½ cup of milk.
Dissolve the cream of tartar and baking soda in the reserved milk and add to the mixture.
Add the bitter almond extract and mix well.
Gently fold in the egg whites until combined; the batter should be quite thin.
Bake
Pour the batter into prepared pans and bake until golden.
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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Flour + almondtop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,673 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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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 + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Butter + almondtop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,245 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Egg whites
- Whipped structure that lightens the batter and helps the cake rise and set.
- Butter
- Fat that tenderises the crumb and carries flavour.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cake and helps the creamed butter hold air for a light texture.
- All-purpose flour
- Forms the main structure of the cake as its proteins set during baking.
- Cream of tartar
- Acid that stabilises the egg whites and works with baking soda to help the cake rise.
- Baking soda
- Alkaline leavener that releases gas with the acidic cream of tartar, lifting the batter.
The step that matters
Folding in the egg whites. Egg whites hold air only if they are not deflated. Folding gently keeps the trapped air in the thin batter, which is what lifts the cake; stirring vigorously knocks the air out.
“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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