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 ↓
Cup Cake
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point. The book gives no cooking times either; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare the batter
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt.
Gradually add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture, alternating with the milk. Mix until just combined.
Make the variations
To make variations, divide the batter into quarters and add desired ingredients.
For walnut cake, mix ½ cup chopped walnuts into one quarter of the batter.
For chocolate cake, layer one quarter with chocolate frosting and grated chocolate.
For fruit cake, add currants or citron to another quarter and frost with white frosting.
Bake
Bake in greased pans for about 30-40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
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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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Butter + flourtop 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).
Butter and flour 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
- Butter
- Creams with sugar to trap air, giving a light, fluffy crumb and rich flavour.
- Eggs
- Provide structure and richness, binding the batter as it sets in the oven.
- Flour
- Forms the main structure of the cake as its proteins set during baking.
- Milk
- Adds moisture and loosens the batter so the dry ingredients blend evenly.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic cream of tartar to release gas, helping the cake rise.
- Cream of tartar
- Acts as an acid that works with baking soda to lift the batter and keep it tender.
The step that matters
Mixing after the dry ingredients are added. Overmixing once the flour is in develops gluten, which can make the cake tough and dense. Mixing only until just combined keeps the crumb tender.
“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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