Why it works: Butter and milk 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 ↓
A Delicious Strawberry Shortcake, and How to Make It.
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare the dough
Sift 1 quart of prepared flour with baking powder and sugar.
Cut in butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
Add milk gradually to form a soft dough.
Roll out the dough and place it in a baking dish.
Bake and serve
Bake in a hot oven at 400°F (200°C) until golden brown.
Slice fresh strawberries and mix with sugar to taste.
Serve the shortcake warm, topped with the sugared strawberries.
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.
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.
-
Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
-
Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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
- Prepared flour
- Forms the structure that holds the shortcake together as it bakes.
- Butter
- Cut into the flour to create tender, flaky layers and a rich texture.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas during baking so the shortcake rises and stays light.
- Milk
- Hydrates the flour to form a soft dough and adds moisture.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the crust brown during baking.
The step that matters
Cut in butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Butter left in small, cold pieces melts during baking and creates steam and layers. If it is overworked or softened, the dough becomes dense and tough instead of tender.
“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.
More strawberry shortcake recipes
You might also like
White Cake431 recipes
Pound Cake373 recipes
Orange Bundt Cake349 recipes
Spice Cake344 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.