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 ↓
Grandmother's Strawberry Shortcake
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the strawberries
Stem the strawberries and reserve 1 cup of the nicest berries for topping.
Mash the remaining strawberries, add ½ cup sugar, and stir for 1 minute to dissolve.
Make and bake the shortcake
Sift 1 pint flour with ½ teaspoon salt and 2 teaspoons baking powder.
Rub in 1 tablespoon butter and add enough milk to moisten the mixture.
Knead quickly and roll out to fit the baking pan.
Brush the dough with milk and bake at 400°F (200°C) for 20 minutes.
Assemble and serve
Pull the shortcake apart using 2 forks without cutting.
Remove some crumb from the center, butter both pieces, and place the bottom on a serving dish.
Pour the mashed berries over the bottom piece, place the top on, and garnish with whole berries.
Dust thickly with powdered sugar and serve with a pitcher 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 + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
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).
-
Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 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
- Strawberries
- Provide the fruit, sweetness and juice that moisten the shortcake.
- Flour
- Forms the structure of the shortcake as its gluten sets during baking.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas during baking so the shortcake rises and turns light.
- Butter
- Adds fat that tenderizes the crumb and enriches the flavor.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the berries and dissolves into their juice.
- Milk
- Hydrates the flour so the dough holds together and browns on top.
The step that matters
Knead quickly and roll out the dough. Overworking the dough develops too much gluten, making the shortcake tough instead of tender. Handle it briefly and gently so it stays light and crumbly.
“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.