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 ↓
Marble 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 batters
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a large bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.
In another bowl, cream together the butter and granulated sugar until light and fluffy.
Add the milk and mix well.
Sift together the flour and baking powder, then gradually add to the butter mixture.
In a separate bowl, beat the egg yolks and mix in the brown sugar until well combined.
Fold the egg whites into the butter mixture gently.
Divide the batter into two bowls.
Mix the brown sugar and egg yolk mixture into one bowl.
Bake
Spoon the batters alternately into a greased cake pan and swirl with a knife to create a marble effect.
Bake for 30-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center 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.
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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Flour + buttertop 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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Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour and butter 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
- Egg whites
- Whipped to stiff peaks, they trap air and give the cake a light, airy structure.
- Butter
- Creamed with sugar, it traps air and adds richness and tender texture.
- All-purpose flour
- Its proteins set during baking, forming the cake's main structure.
- Granulated sugar
- Creamed with butter to aerate the batter and add sweetness and tenderness.
- Egg yolks
- Add richness, moisture and emulsifying power that helps bind the batter.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas during baking, helping the cake rise and become tender.
The step that matters
Folding in the egg whites. Egg whites hold air only while whipped; stirring them vigorously knocks that air out and the cake bakes flat and dense. Fold gently with a spatula, stopping once no white 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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