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 ↓
Sugar Cakes
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point. The book gives no cooking times either; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare the dough
Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
Add the eggs and thick milk, mixing well.
In a separate bowl, combine the baking soda and cream of tartar with some flour.
Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture, stirring until a dough forms.
Shape and bake
Roll out the dough on a floured surface and cut into desired shapes.
Place on a baking sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes or until lightly golden.
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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Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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
- Butter
- Creams with sugar to trap air and add richness and tenderness to the cookies.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cake and, creamed with butter, helps give a light, fluffy texture.
- Eggs
- Bind the dough and add structure and moisture as the cake sets in the oven.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acid in the cream of tartar to produce gas that helps the cake rise.
- Cream of tartar
- Acidifies the dough so it reacts with baking soda, aiding rise and a tender crumb.
- Thick milk
- Adds moisture and richness to the dough and helps it hold together.
The step that matters
Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture. Adding the dry mix gradually and stirring only until a dough forms keeps the mixture evenly combined. Overmixing develops gluten, which can make the texture tough and dense.
“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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