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 ↓
Strawberry Shortcake
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the dough
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
Mix and sift flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt.
Work in the butter using your fingertips.
Beat the egg until very light and add the milk; combine with the flour mixture.
Toss the dough on a lightly floured board and divide it into two parts.
Pat and roll out each part, then bake in round layer cake pans.
Bake and split
Once baked, split the cakes and remove the soft part.
Spread the cakes with butter.
Assemble and serve
Sprinkle strawberries with sugar and warm them on the back of the stove until slightly crushed.
Place the strawberries between the layers and on top of the shortcakes.
Cover with sweetened and flavored whipped cream, and garnish with whole berries.
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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Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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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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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour and butter 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
- Flour
- Forms the structure of the shortcake so it holds its shape under the fruit and cream.
- Butter
- Worked into the flour to add tenderness and richness to the crumb.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the oven so the shortcakes rise and turn light.
- Egg
- Adds structure and richness, and helps bind the dough with the milk.
- Milk
- Hydrates the flour so the dough comes together and bakes through.
- Strawberries
- Provide sweetness and acidity, and their juices soak into the shortcakes.
The step that matters
Working the butter into the flour. Cold butter rubbed into the flour leaves small pieces that melt in the oven and create flaky pockets; if the butter becomes soft or fully blended, the shortcake turns dense and tough.
“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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