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 ↓
Soda Biscuits
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. The book gives no cooking times either; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare
Preheat your oven to 400°F (200°C).
Make the dough
In a large bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, salt, and cream of tartar.
In a separate bowl, melt the lard and combine it with the milk.
Gradually add the milk mixture to the dry ingredients, stirring until a dough forms.
Shape and bake
Roll out the dough on a floured surface and cut into desired shapes.
Place the biscuits on a greased baking sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes 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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Milk + creamtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together29,399 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Flour + creamtop 20% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together30,481 recipes
Shared aroma: acetaldehyde (pungent, ethereal).
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
- Forms the structure of the dough once combined with liquid.
- Lard
- Adds fat that keeps the biscuits tender and flaky.
- Milk
- Provides the moisture that hydrates the flour into a dough.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acid in cream of tartar to produce gas that makes the biscuits rise.
- Cream of tartar
- Supplies acid that reacts with baking soda to leaven the biscuits.
The step that matters
Gradually add the milk mixture to the dry ingredients. Adding liquid slowly and stopping once a dough forms prevents overmixing. Overworked flour develops gluten, which makes biscuits tough rather than tender.
“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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