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 ↓
Cream of Tartar Biscuit
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the dough
Sift the flour and cream of tartar together.
Rub the butter and lard thoroughly into the flour mixture.
Dissolve the baking soda in the milk or water (use more shortening if using water).
Mix all ingredients together.
Roll out the dough, adding as little flour as possible.
Cut and bake
Cut with a biscuit cutter and bake immediately in a 400°F (200°C) oven.
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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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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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).
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Cream + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together29,399 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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 biscuits together as they bake.
- Butter and lard
- Rubbed into the flour to add fat, making the biscuits tender and flaky.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acid in cream of tartar to produce gas that makes the biscuits rise.
- Cream of tartar
- Acts as an acid that reacts with the baking soda, helping the biscuits rise.
- Milk or water
- Hydrates the flour and dissolves the baking soda, forming the dough.
The step that matters
Adding as little flour as possible when rolling out the dough. Extra flour worked into the dough dries it out and toughens the biscuits. Keeping flour light preserves a tender texture.
“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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