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 ↓
Tea Cake
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick 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).
Make the batter
Beat the butter and sugar together until creamy.
Add the eggs and mix well.
Stir in the milk.
In a separate bowl, mix the flour with the baking soda and cream of tartar.
Gradually add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients.
Pour the batter into shallow pans, about 1 inch deep.
Bake and serve
Bake until golden and a toothpick comes out clean, about 20-25 minutes.
Serve warm.
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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Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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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
- Flour
- Forms the main structure that holds the cake together as it bakes.
- Eggs
- Add structure, moisture and richness to the batter.
- Butter
- Adds fat for a tender texture and rich flavour.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the crust brown.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acid in cream of tartar to release gas that lifts the batter.
- Cream of tartar
- Provides the acid that reacts with baking soda to help the cake rise.
The step that matters
Gradually add the flour mixture. Adding the dry ingredients gradually helps blend them evenly and avoids lumps. Limiting how much the batter is worked keeps gluten development low, which keeps the crumb tender.
“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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