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 ↓
Pinafore Cake
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
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
Make the batter
Add the milk mixed with baking soda and stir well.
Incorporate the beaten eggs into the mixture.
Sift together the cornstarch, flour, and cream of tartar, then gradually add to the wet ingredients.
Mix until just combined.
Bake
Pour the batter into baking sheets and spread evenly.
Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
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, giving the cake a light, tender crumb and rich flavor.
- Sugar
- Creams with butter for aeration and adds sweetness and browning.
- Eggs
- Add structure and richness as they set during baking.
- All-purpose flour
- Provides the main structure that sets the cake's crumb as it bakes.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic cream of tartar and moist batter to produce gas that helps the cake rise.
- Cream of tartar
- Acidifies the batter so it reacts with baking soda, helping the cake rise.
The step that matters
Mix until just combined. Once flour is added, gluten develops with overmixing, which can make the cake tough and dense. Stop as soon as no dry streaks remain, and keep the batter from being overworked.
“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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