Why it works: Cream and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 20% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 30,481 recipes. Both carry acetaldehyde, which smells pungent, ethereal. The science ↓
Cream Tartar Baking Powder
Ingredients
Directions
Dry each ingredient thoroughly before mixing.
Sift the ingredients together several times.
Store in a dry, airtight container.
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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Cream + flourtop 20% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together30,481 recipes
Shared aroma: acetaldehyde (pungent, ethereal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cream of tartar
- Provides the acid that reacts with the bicarbonate to release gas for rising.
- Bicarbonate of soda
- Supplies the alkaline base that releases carbon dioxide when it reacts with the acid, making baked goods rise.
- Flour
- Acts as a filler that keeps the mixture dry and free-flowing and stops the acid and base from reacting early.
The step that matters
Dry each ingredient thoroughly before mixing.. Any moisture lets the acid and bicarbonate react while the powder sits in storage, using up their leavening power before it reaches the batter. Thorough drying keeps the mixture stable and effective.
“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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