Why it works: Butter and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Queen Cakes
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Make the batter
Rub the butter in a preserving pan until it is as fine as cream.
Whisk the eggs together over gentle heat, being careful not to burn them.
Add the powdered sugar to the eggs and whisk for three minutes.
Return the mixture to the heat and whisk until warm, then remove and whisk until cold.
Mix the cooled egg mixture with the butter using your hands.
Add the sifted flour and currants, mixing well.
Prepare and bake
Butter your tin hearts and place them on a plate with three or four papers underneath.
Preheat your oven to 400°F (200°C).
If the top browns too quickly, cover with a sheet of paper.
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 + 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).
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Butter + curranttop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,856 recipes
Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).
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Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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
- Creamed until fine, it traps air and gives the cakes a rich, tender crumb.
- Eggs
- Whisked to foam and set, they add structure, lift and moisture to the batter.
- Powdered sugar
- Sweetens the batter and dissolves easily into the whisked eggs for a smooth texture.
- Sifted flour
- Provides the structure that sets the cakes as they bake.
- Currants
- Add fruity sweetness and small pockets of moisture throughout the cakes.
The step that matters
Whisking the eggs and sugar over gentle heat. Eggs can scramble or curdle if overheated, so warming them gently and whisking constantly keeps the mixture smooth and able to hold air for a light cake.
Swap the currant
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, egg, sugar, flour):
- Raisinfits better
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Currantthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, egg, sugar, flour. 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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