Why it works: Butter and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Queen Cakes
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.
Make the batter
In a preserving pan, beat the butter until it becomes a fine cream.
In another pan, beat the eggs (yolks and whites) over gentle heat until warm.
Remove from heat and whisk in the powdered sugar for 2-3 minutes.
Return to heat and whisk until warm, then continue whisking until cold.
Mix in the sifted flour, butter, and currants using your hands.
Bake
Butter your heart tins or any other shape and fill them three-quarters full.
Place on a baking sheet lined with paper and bake in a 400°F (200°C) oven.
If the oven is too hot, cover with a sheet of paper.
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 + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
-
Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Butter + curranttop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,856 recipes
Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).
-
Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Butter and flour 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
- Butter
- Creamed with sugar to trap air, giving the cakes a light, tender crumb and rich flavour.
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and add structure and richness as they set in the oven.
- Powdered sugar
- Sweetens the batter and helps create a fine, smooth texture when beaten with butter and eggs.
- Flour
- Provides the structure that sets the cakes as they bake.
- Currants
- Add fruitiness, sweetness and chewy bursts of flavour throughout the cakes.
The step that matters
Whisking the egg and sugar mixture until cold. Warming the eggs with sugar helps them become thick and stable, but if the mixture is not beaten properly during cooling it can deflate or separate, leaving the cakes dense. Keeping the batter well aerated before adding flour protects the rise and texture.
Swap the currant
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, egg, sugar, flour):
- Raisinfits better
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Currantthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, egg, sugar, flour. 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.
You might also like
Red Currant Jelly65 recipes
Currant Ice Cream32 recipes
Currant Sherbet9 recipes
Currant and Raspberry Ice7 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.