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 ↓
Nut Cake
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a good oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the batter
Cream the butter and sugar together.
Add the cold water and the well-whipped yolks of the eggs.
Stir in the flour and the stiffened egg whites.
Dredge the nuts with flour and stir them in lightly and quickly.
Bake
Bake in a loaf tin in a 350°F (175°C) oven.
For the first half hour, cover with thick paper.
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 + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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
- Eggs
- Yolks add richness and whipped whites lighten the batter for a tender crumb.
- Flour
- Provides the structure that sets the cake as it bakes.
- Butter
- Creamed with sugar to trap air and add fat for a tender texture.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cake and helps the butter hold air when creamed.
- Nut kernels
- Add crunch, flavour and fat to the crumb.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the batter so the cake rises in the oven.
The step that matters
Stir in the flour and the stiffened egg whites. Folding gently keeps the air in the whipped whites. Overmixing deflates the batter and makes the cake dense instead of light.
“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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