Why it works: Butter and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Sponge Layer 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.
Make the batter
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Cream the butter and 1 cup of sugar together until light and fluffy.
Add the flour, cold water, egg yolks, cream of tartar, and baking soda. Mix until smooth.
In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.
Make the coffee mixture
Boil the strong coffee with 1 cup of sugar until thick.
Slowly pour the coffee mixture over the beaten egg whites, beating continuously.
Assemble
Spread the coffee mixture between the layers of cake and on top once the cake has cooled.
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 + 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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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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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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
- Flour
- Provides the structure that holds the cake's rise and crumb.
- Butter
- Adds fat that makes the cake tender and rich in flavour.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cake and helps keep its crumb soft and tender.
- Egg yolks
- Add richness, moisture and structure to the batter.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acid in cream of tartar to help the cake rise.
- Strong coffee
- Gives the cake and its coffee layer their main flavour.
The step that matters
Pouring the coffee mixture into the egg whites. Pour slowly while beating continuously. Adding the hot syrup too fast or without beating can deflate the whites and make the foam uneven. The heat also cooks the whites slightly, which helps them hold their shape.
“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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