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 ↓
Lemon 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. The book gives no cooking times either; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Make the cake
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Cream together 1 cup of butter and 2 cups of sugar until light and fluffy.
Add 3 eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
In a separate bowl, combine 3 cups of flour and 2 teaspoons of baking powder.
Gradually add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, mixing until just combined.
Pour the batter into a greased cake pan and bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Make the filling
For the filling, melt ½ cup of butter in a saucepan.
Whisk in 3 well-beaten eggs, 2 cups of sugar, and the juice and grated rind of 2 lemons.
Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens.
Assemble
Once the cake is cooled, spread the lemon filling between the layers.
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 + lemontop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,227 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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Flour + lemontop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together30,404 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
- Butter
- Creams with sugar to trap air and adds richness and tender texture to the cake.
- Eggs
- Add structure to the batter and, in the filling, thicken the lemon mixture as it cooks.
- Flour
- Provides the structure that sets the cake as the batter bakes.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cake and, when creamed with butter, helps create a light, fluffy batter.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas during baking so the cake rises and becomes light.
- Lemons
- Juice and rind give the filling its sharp acidity and bright aroma.
The step that matters
Cooking the lemon filling over low heat. Eggs can scramble if overheated, so cooking gently over low heat while stirring constantly lets the mixture thicken smoothly into a custard.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, butter, egg, flour):
- Raisinfits better
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits about as well
- Lemonthe 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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