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 ↓
Boston Cream Cake
Ingredients
Directions
Make the dough
Boil butter and water together.
Stir in flour while boiling.
When cool, add eggs and soda the size of a pea.
Bake
Drop by spoonful onto a buttered baking pan, leaving space so cakes will not touch when risen.
Bake in a very quick oven about ten minutes.
Make the cream and fill
Beat flour, sugar, and eggs together and stir into milk while boiling.
Flavor with rind of a lemon.
When cold, make an incision at the side and fill with cream.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 5 of 6 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 5 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Milk | 1 cup (244ml) whole | 149 |
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Water | not in our table | 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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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Butter and flour 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
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness, helping the dough become tender and flavorful.
- Flour
- Gives the dough and cream their structure as the starch sets with heat.
- Eggs
- Bind the dough and, as they set, help the cakes hold their shape and rise.
- Soda (in the method)
- Acts as a leavening agent, producing gas that lifts the cakes as they bake.
- Milk
- Supplies moisture and body to the cream filling.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the cream filling taste rounded.
The step that matters
Leave space between the spoonfuls before baking. The dough puffs considerably in a hot oven. Without room between the spoonfuls, the cakes can merge as they rise and set, changing their shape and 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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