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 ↓
Delicate 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.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Make the batter
In a bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
In a separate bowl, mix the cream of tartar with the cornstarch.
In another bowl, combine the baking soda with the sweet milk.
Add the milk mixture to the butter and sugar, then gradually mix in the cornstarch mixture.
Finally, fold in the egg whites and add flavoring to taste.
Bake
Pour the batter into a greased cake pan and bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
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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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 + 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).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cornstarch
- Lightens the crumb and gives the cake its tender, delicate texture.
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness, and creaming it with sugar traps air for a light structure.
- White sugar
- Sweetens the cake and helps it brown while creaming aerates the batter.
- Sweet milk
- Provides the moisture that hydrates the flour-free batter and dissolves the leavening.
- Egg whites
- Whipped into the batter to add lift and set the structure as it bakes.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acid in the batter to release gas, helping the cake rise.
The step that matters
Folding in the egg whites. Egg whites hold air that gives the cake its lift. Stirring them vigorously knocks that air out, so fold them in gently and only until just combined.
“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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