Why it works: Sugar and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 92,116 recipes. Both carry phenylacetaldehyde, which smells hawthorne, honey. The science ↓
Biscuit Drops
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderate oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the batter
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
Beat the eggs well in a bowl.
Gradually add the sugar and continue beating.
Slowly incorporate the flour while mixing continuously.
Bake and store
Flour the sheets of tin and drop the batter in the desired sizes.
Place the biscuits in the oven quickly and watch them rise.
Remove them when they begin to color, or return them if not done.
Once baked, let them dry in the oven and store in a dry place.
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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Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Egg and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 106,462 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
- Eggs
- Beaten eggs trap air and give the biscuits their light, airy structure.
- Double-refined sugar
- Sugar is beaten with the eggs to add sweetness and help stabilise the foam.
- Dried flour
- Flour provides the structure that sets the biscuits as they bake.
The step that matters
Removing the biscuits at the right colour. Sugar and proteins brown quickly in a hot oven, so biscuits can go from pale to over-coloured within minutes. Checking as they just begin to colour keeps them tender and evenly baked, and returning them if underdone lets the centres finish setting.
“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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