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Cream-tartar Biscuit

A biscuit made with sifted flour, cream‑tartar, soda, salt, and milk, baked quickly.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Colbrath, M. Tarbox · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Flour and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 78,219 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Cream-tartar Biscuit

Ingredients

Directions

Mix the dough

  1. Mix salt, soda, and cream‑tartar with flour.

  2. Add the milk and thoroughly stir so that the alkali may evenly effervesce.

  3. Dredge your board, turn the dough upon it, which quickly brings into a body without kneading it at all, as the success depends upon the rapid mixing and baking.

Shape and bake

  1. Roll lightly into a sheet an inch thick.

  2. Cut into rounds with a small tin biscuit cutter.

  3. Bake in a quick oven.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

653Calories
21 gProtein
9 gFat
120 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 4 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Salt1 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.

By Colbrath, M. Tarbox. 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.

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. Flour + milktop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together78,219 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  2. Cream + milktop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together29,399 recipes

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

  3. Flour + creamtop 20% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together30,481 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetaldehyde (pungent, ethereal).

Flour and milk barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 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 that holds the biscuits together as they rise.
Cream of tartar
Reacts with the soda to release gas, helping the biscuits rise.
Soda
Reacts with the acid in the cream of tartar to produce lift.
Milk
Provides the liquid that hydrates the flour and activates the leavening.

The step that matters

Work the dough quickly and without kneading. The leavening reacts as soon as liquid meets the acid and alkali, so the gas bubbles escape if the dough is worked slowly or kneaded. Quick mixing and a hot oven keep the gas trapped for a light rise.

“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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