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 ↓
Wheat Gems
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
Mix one teaspoonful of baking powder and a little salt in one pint of flour.
Add one cupful of sweet milk, a piece of butter half the size of a quarter, the yolks of two eggs, well beaten.
Add the whites of the eggs beaten to a stiff froth.
Bake
Bake at once in a quick oven.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
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 |
| 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.
-
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).
-
Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Flour (in the method)
- Provides the structure that holds the batter together as it bakes.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the batter so the cakes rise and turn light.
- Eggs
- Add richness and structure, and the beaten whites add lift.
- Sweet milk
- Adds moisture and hydrates the flour to form the batter.
- Butter
- Adds fat for tenderness and a richer flavour.
The step that matters
Add the beaten egg whites gently and bake at once. Baking powder starts releasing gas as soon as it is wet, so the batter should be baked promptly. Folding the stiffly beaten whites in gently keeps the air they hold, which helps the gems rise light.
“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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