Name: Biscuit Cakes
Ingredients: 2 cups flour; 1 cup currants, washed and dried; ¼ teaspoon salt; ½ cup thick cream

Why it works: Flour and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 20% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 30,481 recipes. Both carry acetaldehyde, which smells pungent, ethereal. The science ↓

Biscuit Cakes

Oven, in the book's wordsA brisk oven

Ingredients

2 cups flour
1 cup currants, washed and dried
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup thick cream

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.

Make the dough

Mix flour, currants, salt, and cream to form a paste.
Knead the dough and roll it out to about ½ inch thick.

Shape and bake

Cut into rounds 2 inches in diameter.
Bake in a brisk oven at 400°F (200°C) until golden.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

Flour + creamtop 20% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together30,481 recipes

Shared aroma: acetaldehyde (pungent, ethereal).
Flour + curranttop 26% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together8,077 recipes
Currant + creamtop 32% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together1,829 recipes

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Flour: Provides the structure that holds the dough together and sets as it bakes.
Thick cream: Adds fat and moisture, making the dough tender and enriching its flavor.
Currants: Add sweetness and chewy bits of fruit throughout the biscuits.