Why it works: Butter and milk match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and 81,222 recipes mention both. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
The recipe
Ingredients
Contains: egg, milk, wheat (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Directions
Roll a piece of baking-powder biscuit dough into a sheet one-half inch in thickness; spread with softened butter; dust with cinnamon and sugar ; roll like a jelly roll ; with a sharp knife cut off bits from the end about one-half inch ; lay the flat side on a well-buttered pan ; bake in a hot oven ten minutes. These make a very good substitute for cinnamon rolls ; to be served hot.
SHORTCAKE.
One-half teaspoonful of salt, Two tablespoonfuls of butter.
Sift the flour, salt and baking-powder together; rub the butter into the flour ; beat the egg until light ; add the milk ; beat, do not knead, the dough ; turn out on a well-floured board ; roll into sheets one-half inch in thickness; butter and flour the baking pan; lay a sheet of the cake in the pan; brush the top with melted butter; put on a second sheet; bake in a moderate oven fifteen or twenty minutes; when baked separate the sheets ; put a layer of fruit, sprinkled with powdered sugar, between, another layer of fruit on top and cover with whipped cream; strawberries, raspberries, pineapples, oranges, or any kind of fruit desired may be used.
Two cupfuls of flour, One tablespoonf ul of melted butter.
powder, One-half saltspoonful of salt.
Sift the flour, baking-powder and salt together ; separate the eggs ; add the yolks and then the milk gradually to the flour; beat to a smooth batter; add the melted butter; beat the whites of the eggs stiff and add last; bake in gem pans in a hot oven twenty minutes.
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. See the original page.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
-
Butter + milktop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together81,222 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Flour + buttertop 6% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together122,858 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Flour + biscuittop 7% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together871 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Flour + milktop 8% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together76,993 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Butter + eggtop 8% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together118,511 recipes
Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).
Flour and butter share little aroma chemistry, yet 122,858 recipes mention both: they likely work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
You might also like
The Sunday pairing: one pairing, the chemistry behind it, and how to cook it. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account for sign-in; Pro adds the full results and chemistry.
Illustration
Illustration
Illustration
Illustration