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 ↓
White Mountain Cake
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a slow oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Make the batter
Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
Add the sweet milk and mix well.
In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.
Gently fold the egg whites into the butter mixture.
Sift together the flour, corn starch, and baking powder, then add to the mixture.
Stir in the lemon extract.
Bake
Pour the batter into a greased cake pan and bake until a toothpick comes out clean.
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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Milk + corntop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,955 recipes
Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + corntop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,165 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Corn + lemontop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,927 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, 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
- Egg whites
- Whipped to stiff peaks, they trap air and give the cake its light, airy structure.
- Butter
- Creamed with sugar, it traps air and adds richness and a tender crumb.
- Flour
- Provides the main structure that sets as the cake bakes.
- Corn starch
- Lightens the crumb by partly replacing flour, giving a finer, more tender texture.
- Royal baking powder
- Releases gas in the batter, causing the cake to rise and become airy.
- White sugar
- Sweetens the cake and, creamed with butter, helps create a light texture.
The step that matters
Folding in the egg whites. Stiff whipped whites hold the air that lifts the cake. Stirring them vigorously knocks out air and makes the cake dense, so fold gently until no white streaks remain.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, butter, milk, egg, flour, corn):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits better
- Coconutfits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, butter, milk, egg, flour, corn. 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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