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 quick 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 and baking powder.
Rub in the butter or lard until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
Quickly add enough milk and water to form a soft dough.
Handle the dough as little as possible after adding the liquid.
Roll the dough out to about ½ inch thick.
Bake the cakes
Cut the dough into rounds using a jelly cake tin and place in a floured tin.
Bake in the hot oven until golden brown.
Assemble and serve
Butter the bottom of the cake and use it for the top layer.
Layer the strawberries on the bottom cake, cut side down, or mash them if small.
Dust the strawberries with powdered sugar, then add another layer of buttered cake on top.
Repeat the layering with more strawberries and sugar.
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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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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Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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
- Forms the structure of the cake as its proteins set during baking.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas during baking so the cake rises and turns light.
- Butter or lard
- Rubbed into the flour to coat it, giving the cake a tender, crumbly texture.
- Strawberries
- Add fruity sweetness and juiciness that soak into the layers.
The step that matters
Handle the dough as little as possible after adding the liquid. Once liquid meets flour, gluten forms and toughens with working. Minimal handling keeps the shortcake tender and crumbly rather than tough.
“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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