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 ↓
Ich Cream Cake
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderate 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 milk and flavoring.
Sift in the flour, cornstarch, and baking powder mixed together.
Fold in the beaten egg whites until well combined.
Bake and finish
Bake in a square pan at 350°F (175°C) until golden.
Ice with white icing once cooled.
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 + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 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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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 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
- White sugar
- Sweetens the cake and helps the butter cream into a light, aerated base.
- Butter
- Adds fat for a tender crumb and rich flavor.
- Flour
- Provides the main structure that holds the cake together as it bakes.
- Cornstarch
- Softens the crumb, giving a finer, more tender texture than flour alone.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the batter so the cake rises and becomes light.
- Egg whites
- Trap air when beaten, adding lift and structure to the batter.
The step that matters
Fold in the beaten egg whites. Folding gently keeps the air bubbles in the whipped whites intact. Stirring vigorously knocks out that air, so the cake bakes up denser and less 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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