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 ↓
Lady 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
Wash the salt out of the butter and cream it until smooth.
Gradually add the powdered sugar and mix well.
Beat the egg whites until very light and fold in a portion at a time.
Gently mix in the flour until just combined.
Add the ground almonds or almond oil and mix until incorporated.
Bake
Fill a mold with the batter and bake for 2 hours at 350°F (175°C).
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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Flour + almondtop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,673 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Butter + almondtop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,245 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 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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Egg + flourtop 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
- Unsalted butter
- Creams with the sugar to give the cake a tender, rich crumb.
- Powdered sugar
- Sweetens the cake and dissolves finely, helping produce a smooth batter.
- Egg whites
- Whipped to trap air, giving the cake lift and a light structure.
- All-purpose flour
- Provides the structure that sets the batter as it bakes.
- Bitter almonds
- Adds a distinct almond aroma and flavor to the cake.
The step that matters
Folding in the egg whites. Egg whites hold air only when whipped to very light peaks. Folding them in gently, a portion at a time, keeps that air from collapsing, which is what lets the cake rise and stay 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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