Why it works: Milk and butter 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 ↓
Raised Biscuits
Ingredients
Directions
Make the sponge
Make a sponge of one pint of milk, a little salt, and half a cake of compressed yeast (any other will do).
Make the batter
When the sponge is light, take a piece of butter the size of an egg, one quarter cup of sugar, and one egg.
Beat the butter, sugar, and egg together and stir into the sponge, adding flour to make a stiff batter.
Stir the batter well and leave to rise.
Shape and bake
Take with a spoon the light dough just enough for each biscuit and work softly into shape.
Lay the biscuits into pans and bake after standing a short time to rise again.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 5 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Milk | 1 cup (244ml) whole | 149 |
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
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 their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
-
Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Milk + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Milk and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 77,875 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
- Milk
- Provides the liquid that hydrates the flour and makes the dough soft.
- Compressed yeast (in the method)
- Produces gas as it ferments, which lightens the sponge and dough so they rise.
- Butter
- Adds fat that tenderises the biscuits and gives a richer crumb.
- Egg
- Adds structure and richness to the batter, helping it hold together.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the biscuit tops brown in the oven.
The step that matters
Let the batter rise until light before shaping. Yeast gives off carbon dioxide as it works, and that gas is what lightens the dough. If the batter has not risen enough, the biscuits will bake up dense; the second rise on the pans then adds further lightness.
“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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