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 ↓
Short Cake
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the dough
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
Mix in the butter with your fingers until crumbly.
Gradually add milk until the dough is moist but not sticky.
Divide the dough in half and roll out to ½ inch thick.
Bake the layers
Place one half in a buttered pan and spread melted butter on top.
Place the other half on top and bake for 20 minutes.
Remove from the pan and take off the top layer.
Assemble and serve
Butter the inside of both layers generously.
Cover the bottom layer with crushed sweetened fruit and a layer of whipped cream.
Place the top layer back on and cover it with whipped cream, colored with fruit juice if desired, or sprinkle with fruit.
Serve while warm.
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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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Milk + creamtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together29,399 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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
- Flour
- Forms the structure of the dough once moistened and baked.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas during baking, lifting the layers so they rise and turn light.
- Butter
- Rubbed into the flour for tenderness and richness, and adds flavor and browning to the layers.
- Milk
- Hydrates the flour to form a workable dough that holds together when rolled.
- Whipped cream
- Adds moisture, richness and a soft contrast to the baked layers and fruit.
The step that matters
Add milk gradually until the dough is moist but not sticky. Flour absorbs liquid unevenly, so adding milk slowly prevents a dense, tough dough caused by overmixing or too much liquid at once.
“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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