Why it works: Cream and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 20% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 30,481 recipes. Both carry acetaldehyde, which smells pungent, ethereal. The science ↓
Pure Baking Powder
Ingredients
Directions
Sift the cream of tartar, bicarbonate of soda, and flour or corn starch thoroughly several times.
Store the mixture in a dry place.
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.
-
Cream + flourtop 20% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together30,481 recipes
Shared aroma: acetaldehyde (pungent, ethereal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cream of tartar
- Provides acidity that reacts with the bicarbonate of soda to release carbon dioxide for rising.
- Bicarbonate of soda
- Supplies the base that reacts with the acid to release carbon dioxide gas for rising.
- Flour or corn starch
- Absorbs moisture and keeps the powder dry, separating the acid and base until use.
The step that matters
Sift thoroughly several times. Sifting evenly distributes the acid, base and starch, so the powder reacts uniformly and leavens batters consistently rather than in uneven pockets.
“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.
More baking powder recipes
You might also like
White Cake431 recipes
Pound Cake373 recipes
Orange Bundt Cake349 recipes
Spice Cake344 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.