Why it works: Milk and butter 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 ↓
Cream Cakes
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a brisk oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the batter
Warm the milk and cut the butter into it to soften without oiling.
Beat the eggs until very light and thick, then gradually stir them into the milk and butter mixture, alternating with the flour.
Beat the mixture well, then transfer it to slightly buttered tea cups, filling them only three-quarters full.
Bake and fill
Bake in a brisk oven at 400°F (200°C) for about 20 minutes until slightly browned and puffed up.
Once cool enough to handle, turn the cakes out onto a dish and cut a slit in the top of each.
Fill each cake with jelly, marmalade, or sweetened mashed fruit, then close the slit neatly.
Top each cake with a whole strawberry or raspberry and dust with powdered sugar.
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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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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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).
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Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 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
- Eggs
- Beaten until light and thick, they trap air and give the cakes their lift and structure.
- Flour
- Sets the batter as it bakes, giving the cakes a firm, sliceable crumb.
- Butter
- Adds richness and tenderness, softening the batter and contributing flavour.
- Milk
- Provides the liquid that hydrates the flour and helps the cakes set and brown.
The step that matters
Filling the tea cups three-quarters full. The batter puffs considerably as it bakes. Filling cups too full can cause overflow and a dense, misshapen top, so leaving room lets the cakes rise evenly.
“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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