Why it works: Flour and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 78,219 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Rock Cakes
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.
Make the dough
In a basin, combine ½ lb of flour and 2 teaspoons of baking powder.
Rub in ¼ lb of clarified dripping until no lumps remain.
Wash, pick, and dry ¼ lb of currants, then add them to the flour.
Stir in 1 teaspoon of ground ginger or grated nutmeg, ¼ lb of crushed sugar, and 2 oz of chopped candied peel.
Mix everything together with a wooden spoon.
Beat 1 egg with ½ cup of milk and pour it into the mixture.
Stir until a very stiff paste forms.
Shape and bake
Grease a baking tin with a little dripping.
Using two forks, divide the paste into small rough heaps on the tin.
Bake in a 400°F (200°C) oven for about 15 minutes.
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 + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Ginger + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,564 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Currant + milktop 16% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together5,475 recipes
Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).
Flour and milk barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 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
- Dripping
- Rubbed into the flour to add richness and a tender, crumbly texture.
- Flour
- Forms the structure of the paste that holds the cakes together.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas during baking so the cakes rise and lighten.
- Egg
- Binds the mixture and adds structure and moisture to the paste.
- Milk
- Moistens the dry ingredients so they form a stiff, cohesive paste.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the cakes brown lightly in the oven.
The step that matters
Stirring until a very stiff paste forms. Stirring too little leaves dry pockets of flour, while overworking develops gluten and makes the cakes tough. The paste should be stiff enough to hold its shape in heaps.
Swap the currant
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (ginger, sugar, flour, milk, egg):
- Raisinfits better
- Vanillafits better
- Lemonfits better
- Currantthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against ginger, sugar, flour, milk, egg. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“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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