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 ↓
Fried Cakes
Ingredients
Directions
Make the dough
In a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar, cream of tartar, and baking soda or baking powder.
In another bowl, beat the eggs and then add the butter and sweet milk.
Combine the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients until a dough forms.
Shape and fry
Roll out the dough on a floured surface to about ½ inch thick.
Cut into desired shapes and fry in hot lard until golden brown.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Coffee + milktop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,202 recipes
Shared aroma: 4-heptenal (creamy, biscuit).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 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
- Forms the structure of the dough that holds the cakes together.
- Eggs
- Bind the dough and add richness and structure.
- Granulated sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the cakes brown during frying.
- Unsalted butter
- Adds fat for tenderness and a richer flavor.
- Sweet milk
- Adds moisture so the flour hydrates into a workable dough.
- Cream of tartar
- Acidic ingredient that reacts with the leavener to help the cakes rise.
The step that matters
Frying in hot lard until golden brown. If the lard is not hot enough, the cakes absorb excess fat and turn greasy and dense. If it is too hot, the outside browns before the inside cooks through. Steady, moderate heat gives an even golden crust and a cooked centre.
“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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