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 ↓
Golden Cake
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
In a bowl, mix flour and sugar.
Rub in the butter lightly.
Add the orange rind, cream of tartar, and baking soda.
Beat the egg yolks and mix with the milk.
Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.
Bake
Line a small round cake tin and grease the paper.
Pour the mixture into the tin and bake at 350°F (175°C) for about 40 minutes.
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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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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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).
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
- Flour
- Provides the structure that holds the cake together as it bakes.
- Egg yolks
- Add richness and help bind the batter, giving a tender crumb.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic cream of tartar to produce gas that lifts the cake.
- Cream of tartar
- Acidifies the batter so it reacts with the baking soda to help the cake rise.
- Butter
- Adds fat that tenderises the crumb and contributes flavour.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cake and helps brown the crust while softening the crumb.
The step that matters
Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Once the acid and baking soda meet liquid they begin releasing gas, so the batter should be mixed gently and only until combined, then baked promptly. Overmixing develops gluten and makes the cake tough and dense.
Swap the orange
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, butter, sugar, cream, milk, egg):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits better
- Coconutfits better
- Orangethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, butter, sugar, cream, 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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