Why it works: Milk and butter 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 ↓
Quick Sally Lunn
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a rather moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Sift together the pastry flour, baking powder, and salt.
In a separate bowl, beat the eggs and stir in the milk.
Mix and bake
Combine the wet and dry ingredients, then add the melted butter and beat hard for two minutes.
Pour the batter into a buttered shallow pan.
Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) for twenty-five minutes.
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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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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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 + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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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
- Pastry flour
- Provides the structure that holds the batter together as it bakes.
- Eggs
- Add structure and richness, helping the cake set and hold its rise.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas during baking, lifting the batter so the cake becomes light.
- Butter
- Adds fat that tenderizes the crumb and gives a rich flavor.
- Milk
- Adds moisture that hydrates the flour and helps form the batter.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the crust brown during baking.
The step that matters
Beating the batter for two minutes. Vigorous beating develops gluten in the flour, which gives the Sally Lunn its chewy, sturdy structure. Beating too gently can leave a crumbly, under-risen cake, while the rest of the recipe depends on this structure holding.
“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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