Why it works: Flour and buttermilk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,721 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Soda Scones
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Heat a griddle slowly.
Make the dough
In a bowl, mix the flour and salt with the baking soda and cream of tartar.
Add the buttermilk and mix to form a light, elastic dough.
Roll out the dough thinly on a floured surface and divide it into four pieces.
Cook and cool
Bake on the griddle for 3 to 4 minutes on each side.
Cool the scones in a clean towel.
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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Flour + buttermilktop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,721 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Buttermilk + creamtop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together674 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Flour + creamtop 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
- Flour
- Forms the main structure of the dough once mixed with liquid.
- Buttermilk
- Reacts with the baking soda to lift the dough and adds tenderness and tang.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acid in the buttermilk or cream of tartar to produce gas that makes the scones rise.
- Cream of tartar
- Supplies acid that activates the baking soda, and acts as the acid when using sweet milk.
- Lard
- Adds fat that tenderises the crumb and softens the texture.
The step that matters
Mix the dough lightly. Overworking the dough develops gluten and makes scones tough, while the acid and baking soda must be combined quickly so the gas is trapped before it escapes.
“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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