Why it works: Milk and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,187 recipes. Both carry ethyl caproate, which smells fruity, apple peel. The science ↓
White 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.
Prepare
Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C).
Make the batter
In a large bowl, cream together the granulated sugar and softened butter until light and fluffy.
Add the milk and mix well.
In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.
Gradually add the flour, baking powder, and salt to the butter mixture, alternating with the egg whites.
Stir in the vanilla extract.
Variation
If making pineapple cake, substitute the milk with the juice from one can of pineapple preserves and add the fruit to the icing.
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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Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,187 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
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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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Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Butter + flourtop 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
- Granulated sugar
- Sweetens the batter and helps trap air when creamed with butter for a light crumb.
- Butter
- Adds richness and tenderness, and holds air bubbles when creamed with sugar.
- Egg whites
- Whipped to stiff peaks, they trap air that lifts and gives the cake its airy structure.
- All-purpose flour
- Provides the starch and gluten network that sets the cake's structure as it bakes.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas when heated, helping the cake rise in the oven.
- Milk
- Adds moisture and hydrates the flour so the batter flows and bakes evenly.
The step that matters
Folding in the beaten egg whites. Stiff egg whites hold the air that makes the cake light. Adding flour and whites gradually and mixing gently keeps that air from deflating, so the cake does not turn dense.
Swap the vanilla
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, butter, milk, egg, flour):
- Vanillathe original
- Raisinfits about as well
- Figfits less well
- Coconutfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, butter, milk, egg, flour. 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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