Why it works: Cream and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 43,450 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓
Sunshine Cake
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a slow oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the batter
Beat the egg whites until very stiff, adding a pinch of cream of tartar when half beaten.
Gently mix in the well-beaten yolks of the eggs.
Sift in the granulated sugar and mix lightly.
Sift the flour with a teaspoon of cream of tartar and fold into the egg mixture.
Flavor with orange juice or vanilla.
Bake and release
Pour the batter into an ungreased pan.
Bake at 300 °F (150 °C) for 40 to 50 minutes, covering with brown paper until risen.
Once done, turn the pan upside down until the cake is cool.
Run a knife around the edge and stem.
Place the cake in the oven for 1 minute to release it from the pan.
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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Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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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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Sugar + orangetop 20% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together19,212 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Cream + flourtop 20% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together30,481 recipes
Shared aroma: acetaldehyde (pungent, ethereal).
Egg and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 106,462 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 a stiff foam that gives the cake its light, airy structure.
- Egg yolks
- Add richness and tenderness to the batter once folded in gently.
- All-purpose flour
- Provides the structure that holds the risen cake together as it sets.
- Granulated sugar
- Sweetens the batter and helps stabilize the beaten egg white foam.
- Cream of tartar
- Acidifies the egg whites, helping them whip to a stronger, more stable foam.
The step that matters
Beat the egg whites until very stiff. Air whipped into the whites is what lifts the cake. Underbeaten whites collapse when folded, and overbeaten whites turn dry and grainy, so the foam must be stiff but still smooth.
Swap the orange
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, cream, sugar, flour):
- Raisinfits better
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Orangethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, cream, sugar, 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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