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 ↓
Jam Cake
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Make the batter
In a bowl, cream together the sugar and butter.
Add the eggs, sour milk, and jam, mixing well.
In another bowl, combine the flour and baking soda.
Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture, stirring until smooth.
Pour the batter into a greased sheet or layer pan.
Bake
Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
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.
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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Milk + blackberrytop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together315 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Butter + blackberrytop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together522 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-undecalactone (peach, sweet).
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Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Butter and flour 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
- Butter
- Creams with sugar to trap air and adds richness and tenderness to the crumb.
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and add structure as they set in the oven.
- Flour
- Forms the structure of the cake as the batter sets.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidity of the sour milk to release gas, helping the cake rise.
- Sour milk
- Its acidity activates the baking soda and adds moisture and tenderness.
- Jam
- Adds sweetness, fruit flavor, and moisture to the crumb.
The step that matters
Stirring in the dry ingredients. Once flour meets liquid, gluten begins to form, so stirring only until smooth keeps the cake tender. Overmixing makes it tough and dense.
Swap the blackberry
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, butter, egg, milk, flour):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits better
- Figfits about as well
- Blackberrythe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, butter, egg, milk, flour. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“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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