Name: Strawberry Shortcake
Ingredients: 2 cups all-purpose flour; 1 tablespoon baking powder; ½ teaspoon salt; ½ cup unsalted butter, softened; ¾ cup sugar, divided; 1 cup milk; 4 cups fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced; Charlotte russe or whipped cream for topping

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

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup unsalted butter, softened
¾ cup sugar, divided
1 cup milk
4 cups fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced
Charlotte russe or whipped cream for topping

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°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 batter

Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
In a bowl, mix flour, baking powder, and salt.
Cut in butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
Stir in ½ cup sugar and milk until just combined.
Divide the batter between two greased cake pans.

Bake and assemble

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.
Let the cakes cool, then slice each in half horizontally.
Layer strawberries and remaining sugar between the cake layers.
Top with the final layer of strawberries and add charlotte russe or whipped 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

All-purpose flour: Provides the structure that holds the shortcake together as it bakes.
Baking powder: Releases gas during baking so the shortcake rises and turns light.
Unsalted butter: Cut into the flour to create layers and a tender, crumbly texture.
Milk: Hydrates the flour and adds moisture and richness to the batter.
Sugar: Sweetens the shortcake and helps it brown in the oven.
Fresh strawberries: Add bright fruit flavor and juice that soaks into the cake layers.

“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.