Why it works: Sugar and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 43,450 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓
Sunshine Cake
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a very slow oven”. The 300°F in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Place egg whites in a large bowl and egg yolks in another bowl.
Sift flour and baking powder together 5 times and set aside.
Mix cream of tartar with 1 teaspoon of sugar and set aside.
Beat egg yolks until very light, about 5 minutes, then set aside.
Make the batter
Add a pinch of salt to egg whites and beat until frothy, then add cream of tartar and continue beating until very stiff.
Carefully fold in sugar, then flour and baking powder.
Add extract and egg yolks last, ensuring the mixture is well combined.
Bake and finish
Place the batter in an ungreased pan and bake in a slow oven (300°F / 150°C) for about 50 minutes, gradually increasing the heat as the cake rises.
Cover the cake for the first three-quarters of the baking time, then uncover to finish baking.
Once done, remove from the oven and turn upside down to cool.
When completely cool, run a spatula around the edge and turn the cake out.
Ice with yellow 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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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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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).
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Flour + creamtop 20% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together30,481 recipes
Shared aroma: acetaldehyde (pungent, ethereal).
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Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Egg and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 106,462 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
- Egg whites
- Whipped into a stiff foam that gives the cake its light, airy structure.
- Egg yolks
- Add richness and color, and help set the crumb once folded in.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cake and stabilizes the whipped egg white foam.
- Flour
- Provides the structure that holds the cake's risen foam together as it bakes.
- Cream of tartar
- Acidifies the egg whites, helping them whip to a stable, stiff foam.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the batter to help the cake rise.
The step that matters
Folding in the sugar, flour and baking powder. Overmixing or deflating the stiff egg white foam drives out the air that makes the cake rise, leaving it dense. Fold gently, with a light hand, so the batter stays airy.
“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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