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 ↓
Imitation Pound 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 batter
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
Sift the flour with the cream of tartar and baking soda.
Gradually add the sifted flour mixture to the butter mixture.
Stir in the cream or buttermilk until just combined.
Add flavoring to taste and mix well.
Bake
Pour the batter into a greased loaf pan.
Bake for about 50-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center 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.
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 + vanillatop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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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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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + vanillatop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,241 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 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
- Creamed with sugar to trap air, giving the cake a tender, rich texture.
- Eggs
- Add structure and richness, binding the batter as the cake sets.
- All-purpose flour
- Provides the main structure that holds the cake together as it bakes.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the creamed butter hold air for a light crumb.
- Cream of tartar
- Acidifies the batter and works with baking soda to help the cake rise.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic ingredients to produce gas that lifts the batter.
The step that matters
Creaming the butter and sugar. Beating softened butter with sugar until light and fluffy traps air bubbles that expand in the oven. Under-creaming leaves a dense cake, while over-mixing after adding flour can toughen it.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, sugar, butter, egg, cream, vanilla):
- Raisinfits better
- Figfits better
- Coconutfits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, sugar, butter, egg, cream, vanilla. 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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