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 ↓
Sultana 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 the batter
Sift the flour into a bowl and rub in the butter lightly.
Add the candied peel, sultanas, and grated lemon rind, except for the baking powder.
Separate the yolks from the whites of the eggs.
Beat the yolks with a little milk.
Mix the yolk mixture into the flour mixture until rather stiff, then add the baking powder.
Whip the egg whites to stiff peaks and gently fold them into the batter.
Bake
Pour the mixture into a mold lined with well-oiled paper.
Bake for 1.5 hours at 350°F (175°C).
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 + 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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Milk + lemontop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,053 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, 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
- Butter
- Rubbed into the flour to add richness and a tender, crumbly texture.
- Eggs
- Yolks bind the batter and whites, whipped and folded in, give the cake lift and a lighter crumb.
- Flour
- Forms the structure of the cake as the batter sets in the oven.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the batter, helping the cake rise.
- Castor sugar
- Sweetens the cake and helps give it a soft, tender texture.
- Sultanas
- Add chewy pockets of sweetness throughout the cake.
The step that matters
Folding in the egg whites. Whites whipped to stiff peaks trap air that lifts the batter. Stirring them in vigorously knocks that air out, so the cake comes out denser. Fold gently, keeping the mixture light.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, egg, butter, sugar, milk):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits better
- Figfits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, egg, butter, sugar, milk. 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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