Why it works: Milk and butter 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 ↓
Yeast Cake
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a brisk oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the dough
In a saucepan, combine the milk and butter over low heat until the butter melts; do not let the milk get too hot.
In a bowl, mix the flour and sugar, then stir in the milk and butter mixture, the yeast dissolved in a little cold milk, and the well-beaten eggs to form a smooth dough.
Cover the dough with a cloth and let it rise in a warm place until doubled in size.
Once risen, fold in the currants and thinly sliced candied peel.
Bake
Line two moderate-sized cake tins with greased paper, extending the paper 6 inches above the tins; pour in the mixture.
Let the cakes rise again for another 30 minutes.
Bake in a preheated oven at 400°F (200°C) for about 1 to 1½ hours, covering with paper if the tops brown too quickly.
Optionally, add a few drops of lemon essence or a little grated nutmeg for flavor.
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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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Flour + buttertop 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).
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Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 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 of the dough once mixed with the liquids and eggs.
- Yeast
- Produces gas as it ferments, making the dough rise and become light.
- Eggs
- Add structure and richness, helping bind the dough and set as it bakes.
- Butter
- Adds fat for tenderness and richness in the crumb.
- Milk
- Provides moisture that hydrates the flour and helps form the dough.
- Currants
- Add sweetness and chewy pockets of fruit throughout the cake.
The step that matters
Covering the tops while baking. Long baking at high heat can brown the surface before the interior sets, so loosely covering the tops with paper prevents scorching while the center finishes cooking.
Swap the currant
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, milk, butter, egg, sugar):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits better
- Figfits better
- Currantthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, milk, butter, egg, sugar. 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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