Why it works: Flour and almond are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,673 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
White Lady-cake
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
Beat the egg whites to a high froth.
Gradually add the sugar while continuing to beat.
Cream the butter and mix in the sweet milk and dissolved saleratus.
Combine the egg mixture with the butter and milk mixture.
Make the batter
Add enough sifted flour to thicken the batter like pound cake.
Stir in the orange flower water or lemon extract.
Fold in the ground almonds until well combined.
Line a square tin pan with buttered paper and pour in the batter to a depth of 1 inch.
Bake for 30 minutes until done.
Finish and serve
Remove from the pan and let cool before peeling off the paper.
Turn the cake upside down and ice the bottom.
Once the icing is nearly hard, slice into finger-width pieces, about 2.5 inches long.
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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Flour + almondtop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,673 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Orange + almondtop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,125 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Milk + wheattop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,418 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).
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Wheat + almondtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together264 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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 froth, they trap air and give the cake its light, open structure.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cake and, beaten with the whites, helps stabilise the foam.
- Butter
- Adds fat for a tender crumb and rich flavour.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the batter to help it rise and lighten the crumb.
- Wheat flour
- Provides the structure that thickens the batter so it holds its shape like pound cake.
- Ground almonds
- Add moisture, richness and a nutty flavour to the crumb.
The step that matters
Folding in the egg foam. Egg foam is fragile, so it should be combined gently with the other ingredients and flour. Vigorous stirring knocks out the trapped air, leaving a denser cake that rises less.
Swap the orange
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar, butter, milk, wheat, flour, almond):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits better
- Figfits better
- Orangethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sugar, butter, milk, wheat, flour, almond. 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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