Name: Small Cocoanut Cakes
Ingredients: 1 teaspoon edmonds' baking powder 2 ozs butter; 1 breakfastcup flour 4 ozs; 4 ozs; 2 dessertspoonfuls sugar 1 teaspoon edmonds' baking powder 2 ozs butter; 2 ozs butter; 2 tablespoonfuls

Why it works: Butter and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and 124,287 recipes mention both. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Small Cocoanut Cakes

Ingredients

1 teaspoon edmonds' baking powder 2 ozs butter
1 breakfastcup flour 4 ozs
4 ozs
2 dessertspoonfuls sugar 1 teaspoon edmonds' baking powder 2 ozs butter
2 ozs butter
2 tablespoonfuls

Directions

Combine 1 breakfast cup (4 ozs) flour, desiccated coconut, 2 dessert spoonfuls sugar, 1 teaspoon Edmonds' Baking Powder, 2 ozs butter (or 2 tablespoonfuls), and milk.
Rub butter into flour, mix in coconut, Edmonds' baking powder, and sugar, making into stiff dough with milk.
Place in small lots on cold greased oven shelf, and bake in hot oven about 20 minutes.

By T. J. Edmonds Ltd.. 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.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairs

Aroma overlaplow

Mentioned together124,287 recipes

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

Aroma overlapmoderate

Mentioned together92,116 recipes

Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairs

Aroma overlapmoderate

Mentioned together98,233 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

Butter and flour share little aroma chemistry, yet 124,287 recipes mention both: they likely 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 of the cakes as it sets during baking.
Butter: Rubbed into the flour to add richness and a tender, crumbly texture.
Baking powder: Releases gas in the dough so the cakes rise and become light.
Desiccated coconut (in the method): Adds coconut flavour and some chewiness to the cakes.

“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.