Why it works: Butter and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Strawberry Shortcake
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the dough
Sift flour and measure it.
Add salt and baking powder, then sift again.
Rub the lard into the flour until well combined.
Pour in enough cold water to make a soft dough.
Sift a little flour on a board. Take the dough out of the board.
Divide the dough into equal parts.
Roll out the dough to fit large pie tins.
Place two layers in each tin, spreading butter between the layers.
Bake the layers
Bake in a hot oven (400 °F / 200 °C) for about 12 minutes until light brown.
While the cake layers are warm, lift them off as they won't stick due to the butter.
Prepare the berries
Stem the strawberries. Wash them carefully in cold water if sandy.
Add sugar to the strawberries. Mash the strawberries, stirring well.
Set the mashed berries in the refrigerator until ready to use.
Assemble and serve
Spread the mashed berries between the layers and on top. Optionally, leave some whole berries for garnish.
Serve immediately with plenty of cream.
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 + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
-
Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
-
Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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 once mixed with water and fat.
- Lard
- Shortens the dough, giving it a tender, flaky texture by coating flour particles.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the hot oven, helping the layers rise and become light.
- Strawberries
- Provide the fruit flavor, moisture and acidity for the filling.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the berries and draws out their juice when mashed.
- Butter
- Spread between layers so they separate easily after baking and add richness.
The step that matters
Bake the layers until light brown. Baking too long dries the layers and makes them hard, while underbaking leaves them doughy in the middle. Watch for a light golden colour in a hot oven.
“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.
More strawberry shortcake recipes
You might also like
White Cake431 recipes
Pound Cake373 recipes
Orange Bundt Cake349 recipes
Spice Cake344 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.