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.
Prepare the batter
Beat the butter and sugar until very light.
Blanch and pound the almonds into a paste, then mix in the rose water.
Stir the almond mixture into the butter and sugar, and beat well.
Whisk the egg whites until stiff and dry.
Gradually add the egg whites alternately with the flour, mixing until well combined.
Bake
Bake in shallow or deep pans in a moderate oven 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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Rose + almondtop 11% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,465 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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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).
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
- Butter
- Creams with sugar to trap air and give a tender, rich crumb.
- Egg whites
- Whisked to stiff foam, they lighten the batter and help it rise and set.
- Flour
- Provides the structure that holds the cake once the proteins set in the oven.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cake and, creamed with butter, helps hold air for a light texture.
- Bitter almonds
- Ground into a paste, they add nutty, aromatic flavour and some moisture to the batter.
The step that matters
Gradually add the egg whites alternately with the flour. Folding the stiff whites in gently and in portions keeps the air bubbles intact. Adding them all at once or overmixing deflates the batter, leading to a dense cake.
“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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