Name: Baking Powder Biscuit
Ingredients: two pints of flour; one teaspoonful of salt; three heaping teaspoonfuls of baking powder; butter the size of an egg

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 ↓

Baking Powder Biscuit

Ingredients

two pints of flour
one teaspoonful of salt
three heaping teaspoonfuls of baking powder
butter the size of an egg

Directions

Make the dough

Combine two pints of flour, butter the size of an egg, three heaping teaspoonfuls of baking powder and one teaspoonful of salt.
Make a soft dough of sweet milk or water.
Knead the dough as little as possible.

Shape and bake

Cut out the dough with the usual biscuit cutter.
Bake in a rather quick oven.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

635Calories

19 gProtein

18 gFat

96 gCarbs

What these numbers assume: 4 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
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.

By F. L. Gillette and Hugo Ziemann. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg).

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.

Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together124,287 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together106,462 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together118,967 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

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 main structure that holds the biscuit together as it bakes.
Baking powder: Releases gas when heated, making the biscuits rise and become light and open.
Butter: Melts during baking, creating flaky layers and a tender texture.
Sweet milk or water (in the method): Hydrates the flour so the dough can form and bind together.