Why it works: Butter and flour 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 ↓
Pound Cake
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a steady oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the batter
Cream the softened butter until light and fluffy.
Add the sugar and beat thoroughly.
In a separate bowl, beat the egg yolks and then add them to the mixture, beating well.
Gently fold in the beaten egg whites.
Sift the flour and fold it into the batter very lightly.
Bake
Pour the batter into a large cake pan.
Bake in a 300°F (150°C) oven for about one hour.
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 + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + flourtop 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 + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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
- Creaming softened butter traps air, giving the cake a light, tender crumb.
- Sugar
- Sugar sweetens the cake and helps the creamed butter hold air.
- Flour
- Flour gives the cake its structure once the batter is baked.
- Eggs
- Eggs add structure, richness and moisture, and help bind the batter.
The step that matters
Folding in the flour very lightly. Once flour meets the batter, its gluten starts to form. Overmixing toughens the cake and can deflate the air beaten in earlier, so the flour should be folded in just until combined.
“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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