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 ↓
Tea-cakes, Small
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
Melt the butter and lard together.
Beat the melted mixture and add it to the flour and ground rice.
Mix the dough
Incorporate the eggs and sugar, mixing well with a wooden spoon.
Add a little milk if necessary to achieve the proper consistency.
Bake
Spoon the mixture onto a baking sheet.
Bake in a preheated oven at 400°F (200°C) for 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.
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).
-
Rice + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,374 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Rice + lemontop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,366 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
-
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
- All-purpose flour
- Provides the main structure once it is combined with the eggs and fats.
- Ground rice
- Adds a slightly crumbly, tender texture compared with flour alone.
- Butter and lard
- Add fat for richness and a tender, crumbly texture as the cakes bake.
- Eggs
- Bind the mixture and add structure and richness to the dough.
- Moist sugar
- Adds sweetness and moisture, and promotes browning in the oven.
The step that matters
Adding milk. Milk should be added only a little at a time, if needed, because too much liquid makes the dough sticky and spreads it out, while too little leaves it dry and crumbly. Aim for a dough that holds its shape when spooned onto the sheet.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, rice, sugar, butter, egg, milk):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits better
- Coconutfits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, rice, sugar, butter, egg, 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.
More tea cakes recipes
You might also like
Lemon Rice Pudding19 recipes
Lemon Cake228 recipes
Lemon Ice147 recipes
Rice Cake120 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.