Why it works: Flour and buttermilk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,721 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Scotch Scones
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.
Prepare the dough
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
In a large bowl, rub the butter into one part of the flour.
In another bowl, sift together the baking soda and salt with the remaining flour.
Combine the two mixtures and gradually add the buttermilk to form a smooth dough.
Shape and bake
Divide the dough into 12-ounce pieces and shape them into rounds.
Roll each round out to a thickness of half an inch.
Cut each round crosswise into four pieces.
Place the pieces on pie tins, ensuring they do not touch.
Prick each piece with a fork and let them rise in a warm place for about 15 minutes.
Brush the tops with the egg wash and bake 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.
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 + buttermilktop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,721 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Butter + buttermilktop 20% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,674 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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
- All-purpose flour
- Provides the structure that holds the scones together as they bake.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic buttermilk to release gas, so the scones rise.
- Unsalted butter
- Rubbed into the flour to tenderise the crumb and add richness.
- Buttermilk
- Moistens the dough and its acidity activates the baking soda for lift.
The step that matters
Combining the buttermilk into the dough. Adding the liquid gradually and mixing only until smooth avoids overworking the flour. Too much gluten development makes the scones tough and dense.
“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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