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 moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the batter
Beat the butter and sugar together until creamy.
Beat the eggs and strain them into the butter mixture alternately with the sifted flour.
Mix thoroughly and stir in the candied peel and currants.
Bake
Pour the mixture into a mold lined with buttered paper.
Bake in a preheated oven at 350°F (175°C) for two hours.
Reduce the oven heat after the cake has risen and turned light brown.
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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Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Butter + curranttop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,856 recipes
Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).
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Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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
- Castor sugar
- Sweetens the cake and, creamed with butter, helps trap air for a tender crumb.
- Butter
- Adds richness and tenderness, and creaming it traps air that helps the cake rise.
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and add structure and lift as their proteins set in the oven.
- Flour
- Provides the structure that sets the cake as its proteins and starch cook.
The step that matters
Reduce the oven heat after the cake has risen and turned light brown. The surface browns quickly while the centre is still setting. Lowering the heat at this point stops the top from burning while the interior cooks through.
Swap the currant
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, butter, egg, flour):
- Raisinfits better
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Currantthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, butter, egg, flour. 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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