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 ↓
Strawberry Shortcake
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a slow oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the dough
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
In a bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt.
Work the creamed butter into the flour mixture until well combined.
Pour in the milk and knead into a delicate dough, then divide into three parts.
Roll each part to ½ inch thick and fit into pie plates.
Bake immediately until golden.
Prepare the filling
Meanwhile, mash the strawberries and add sugar to taste; keep cold.
Assemble and serve
Once the cakes are done, invert them onto a cooling rack.
Using a hot, dry knife, split each cake in half carefully.
Butter each half, spread one third of the strawberry mixture on the bottom, and cover with the top half.
Serve quickly.
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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Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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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).
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 its proteins set during baking.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the cream of tartar to produce gas that helps the cakes rise.
- Cream of tartar
- Acidifies the dough so it reacts with the baking soda to lift the cakes.
- Creamed butter
- Adds fat that tenderises the crumb and carries flavour.
- Milk
- Hydrates the flour and adds moisture and richness to the dough.
- Strawberries
- Provide fresh acidity and sweetness that balance the rich biscuit.
The step that matters
Bake immediately until golden. Baking soda and cream of tartar start releasing gas as soon as they are wet, so waiting lets the rise fade and yields flat, dense 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.
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