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 ↓
Short Cake
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
In a bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar.
Rub in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
Add enough milk to form a batter that spreads easily.
Assemble
Divide the batter between two greased cake tins.
Layer your choice of fruit between the cakes.
Beat the egg white until stiff, then fold in 1 tablespoon of sugar.
Spread the egg white mixture on top of the cakes.
Bake
Bake in the oven until golden brown.
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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Sugar + spreadtop 10% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together260 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + spreadtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together270 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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 structure of the cakes as it sets with heat.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the batter so the cakes rise and turn light.
- Butter
- Rubbed into the flour to add tenderness and richness to the crumb.
- Milk
- Hydrates the flour so the mixture forms a spreadable batter.
- Egg white
- Whipped into a stiff foam that sets on top and helps the topping hold its shape.
The step that matters
Bake in the oven until golden brown.. Baking at the stated heat sets the batter and browns the surface through the Maillard reaction. Pulling the cakes too early leaves them doughy, while overbaking dries them out.
“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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