Why it works: Flour and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Josephine Honsik
Ingredients
Directions
Make the dough
Sift one and one-half cups flour, one and one-half teaspoons baking powder, one-half teaspoon salt and one tablespoon sugar into a mixing bowl.
Add one tablespoon butter and work together as for pie crust.
Add one beaten egg and enough milk to make a soft dough.
Bake and assemble
Press into a well-buttered cake tin, brush with melted butter and bake twenty minutes.
Cut cake in two with a long sharp knife.
Spread bottom half liberally with strawberries cut in half and sweetened. Add top layer.
Cover with berries, then cover with whipped cream. Garnish with a few choice whole berries.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 5 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| 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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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
-
Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
-
Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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
- Flour
- Forms the structure of the dough so the cake holds when split and filled.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas during baking so the cake rises and turns light.
- Butter
- Adds fat that tenderises the crumb and browns the crust.
- Egg
- Binds the dough and adds richness and structure to the cake.
- Strawberries (in the method)
- Provide sweetness and fresh acidic flavour that contrasts the rich cream.
The step that matters
Cut cake in two with a long sharp knife. A cooled, tender cake splits most cleanly with a long sharp blade pulled in one smooth stroke. A dull or short knife crushes the crumb and leaves a ragged, uneven layer for the filling.
“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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