Name: Stra Wberry Short-cake
Ingredients: 1 quart sifted flour; 1 teaspoon salt; 4 ounces butter; Sugar to taste; 2 teaspoons baking powder; Milk as needed; 2 quart boxes strawberries; Rich cream for serving

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 ↓

Stra Wberry Short-cake

Oven, in the book's wordsA quick oven

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 strawberries

Stem the strawberries and slightly mash them.
Sweeten the strawberries to taste and set them aside.

Make and bake the dough

Rub the butter into the flour, which has been sifted with the baking powder and salt.
Add enough milk to make a soft dough that can be easily rolled out. Mix quickly and lightly.
Flour the board and rolling pin, then roll out the dough to 1 inch thick.
Divide the dough into two parts. Place one part in a large baking pan and dust the top with flour.
Lay the second layer of dough over it.
Bake in a 400°F (200°C) oven for about 20 minutes.

Assemble and serve

Carefully separate the two layers of cake with a knife.
Place one layer on a platter and spread thickly with butter.
Add a layer of sugared berries and top with the second layer of cake.
Add the remaining berries and sprinkle sugar.
Serve with a pitcher of rich cream.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together81,283 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together41,516 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together43,450 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together124,287 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour + milktop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together78,219 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

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

Flour: Forms the structure of the dough once it is moistened and rolled.
Butter: Rubbed into the flour to tenderise the crumb and add richness.
Baking powder: Releases gas in the oven so the shortcake rises and becomes light.
Strawberries: Provide moisture, fruity flavour and sweetness that soak into the cake.
Milk: Hydrates the flour to form a soft dough that holds together when rolled.