Why it works: Flour and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 78,219 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Spice Cakes
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a sharp oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the dough
In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, and ground spice.
Add the barm and mix well.
Gradually add milk until the mixture reaches a dough-like consistency.
Bake
Preheat your oven to 400°F (200°C).
Bake the mixture in the preheated oven until golden brown.
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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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Sugar + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Flour and milk barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 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
- Provides the structure that holds the cake together.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the crumb brown in the oven.
- Barm
- Acts as a leavening agent that helps the cake rise.
- Ground spice
- Gives the cake its aroma and flavour.
- Milk
- Adds moisture and brings the flour together into a dough.
The step that matters
Gradually add milk until the mixture reaches a dough-like consistency. Flour absorbs liquid at different rates depending on its moisture and how it was measured. Adding milk slowly lets you stop when the dough is right, since too much liquid makes it sticky and dense while too little leaves it dry and crumbly.
“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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