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 ↓
Cream Muffins
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point. The book gives no cooking times either; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare
Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a large bowl, combine the flour and baking soda (if using sour cream).
Make the batter
In another bowl, beat the eggs and mix in the cream and softened butter.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, mixing until just combined.
If using fresh cream, add the cream of tartar or baking powder just before baking.
Add milk gradually until you achieve a thick batter consistency.
Bake
Spoon the batter into greased muffin tins.
Bake for 20-25 minutes or 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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Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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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 + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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
- All-purpose flour
- Provides the structure that holds the muffins together as they bake.
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and set during baking to give structure and richness.
- Heavy cream
- Adds moisture and richness, keeping the crumb tender.
- Unsalted butter
- Adds fat that tenderizes the crumb and contributes flavour.
- Baking soda
- Releases gas for rising when it reacts with an acid such as sour cream.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas for rising when the batter is used with fresh cream.
The step that matters
Mixing the wet and dry ingredients. Mix only until just combined. Overmixing develops gluten in the flour, which makes the muffins tough and dense instead of light.
“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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