Why it works: Butter and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Cream Cakes
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.
Make the batter
Boil the water and butter together.
Remove from heat and let cool slightly before stirring in the flour.
Add the eggs and baking soda, mixing until smooth.
Bake
Drop spoonfuls of the batter onto a baking sheet.
Bake in a 400°F (200°C) oven for about 20 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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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 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).
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Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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
- Eggs
- Provide structure and richness, helping the batter set and puff as it bakes.
- Flour
- Forms the main structure that holds the cakes together once baked.
- Butter
- Adds fat for tenderness and flavor, and melts into the boiling water.
- Baking soda
- Reacts to lift and leaven the batter so the cakes rise.
The step that matters
Cooling the butter and water before adding flour. If the liquid is still boiling hot when flour goes in, the starch can gelatinize unevenly and the eggs may scramble when added, weakening the batter's structure.
“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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