Why it works: Flour and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 20% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 30,481 recipes. Both carry acetaldehyde, which smells pungent, ethereal. The science ↓
Soda Biscuits
Ingredients
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.
Prepare
Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C).
In a large bowl, mix flour, shortening, salt, and baking powder thoroughly.
If using cream of tartar and baking soda, omit the baking powder and use the cream of tartar and baking soda instead.
Do not knead the dough.
Bake
Drop spoonfuls of the mixture onto a baking sheet.
Bake for about 5 minutes or until 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.
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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Flour + creamtop 20% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together30,481 recipes
Shared aroma: acetaldehyde (pungent, ethereal).
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 biscuits together as they set.
- Shortening
- Adds fat that tenderises the crumb and helps keep it short.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the dough so the biscuits rise in the oven.
- Cream of tartar
- Reacts with baking soda to produce gas for rising and adds a slight tang.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acid in cream of tartar to produce gas for rising.
The step that matters
Do not knead the dough.. Kneading develops gluten, which makes biscuits tough and dense. Mixing only until combined keeps them tender and light.
“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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