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Scotch Cake

A thin rolled cake of sugar, butter, eggs and flour, cut in rounds and baked or rolled in sugar.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Vehling, Joseph Dommers, 1879-1950. fmo · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 12 ingredients
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Scotch Cake

Why it works: Butter and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Scotch Cake

Ingredients

Directions

Roll and bake

  1. Roll very thin.

  2. Bake in a quick oven.

Season

  1. Season with lemon.

Shape and finish

  1. Stir in the flour until it will roll.

  2. Cut in round shapes with a hole in the center.

  3. Roll them in sugar.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

735Calories
20 gProtein
23 gFat
109 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 5 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Cream1 tbsp (15ml) heavy51
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By Vehling, Joseph Dommers, 1879-1950. fmo. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

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.

  1. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  2. Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

  3. Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together124,287 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  4. Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together92,116 recipes

    Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).

  5. Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together106,462 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

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 gluten and starch structure that lets the dough roll and hold its cut shapes.
Butter
Adds fat that tenderizes the dough and gives a rich, crumbly texture.
Eggs
Bind the dough and add structure and richness as proteins set in the oven.
Sugar
Adds sweetness and helps the surface brown during baking.

The step that matters

Bake in a quick oven. Thin dough dries out and darkens quickly, so a hot oven sets it fast while it stays tender. Watch closely, because the edges can burn before the centre is done.

“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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