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 ↓
Plum Cake, Common
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a good oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the dough
Rub the butter into the flour.
Add the sugar, currants, and allspice.
Warm the milk, stir in the yeast, and mix everything into a dough.
Knead the dough well and place it into 6 buttered tins.
Rise and bake
Let the tins sit near the fire for nearly an hour to rise.
Bake the cakes in a 350°F (175°C) oven for 1 to 1.5 hours.
To check if done, insert a clean knife into the middle; it should come 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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Currant + allspicetop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,359 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl benzoate (fruity, sweet).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + allspicetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,302 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).
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 that holds the cake's crumb together as it bakes.
- Butter or dripping
- Coats flour particles to tenderise the crumb and adds richness.
- Moist sugar
- Adds sweetness and moisture, and helps the crust brown during baking.
- Fresh yeast
- Produces carbon dioxide gas that makes the dough rise.
- Milk
- Hydrates the flour to form a dough and adds softness and browning.
The step that matters
Test the centre with a clean knife before removing the cakes. The centre is the slowest part to set, so underbaked cakes stay wet and gummy inside. A clean knife shows the crumb has fully cooked through.
Swap the currant
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, butter, sugar, allspice, milk):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits better
- Figfits better
- Currantthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, butter, sugar, allspice, milk. 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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