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 ↓
Fig 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 the oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
Add the flour, milk, egg whites, and baking powder; mix until well combined.
Divide the batter into four greased cake pans.
Bake and make the filling
Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
For the filling, combine the chopped figs, hot water, and ½ cup sugar in a saucepan.
Cook over medium heat until the mixture is soft and smooth.
Assemble
Let the filling cool slightly, then spread it between the layers of cake.
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.
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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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Milk + figtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,026 recipes
Shared aroma: methyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + figtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,192 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).
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
- Creams with sugar to trap air, giving the cake a light, tender crumb.
- All-purpose flour
- Forms the structure of the cake as its proteins set during baking.
- Egg whites
- Add structure and help the batter rise and set when baked.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the batter, making the cake rise and become airy.
- Figs
- Provide the sweet, fruity flavor and moist, thick texture of the filling.
The step that matters
Cook the fig filling until soft and smooth. Figs contain pectin and natural sugars; cooking them until thick lets the filling set so it spreads well and does not run out from between the cake layers.
Swap the fig
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, sugar, flour, milk, egg):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits better
- Figthe original
- Coconutfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, sugar, flour, milk, egg. 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.
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