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 moderately hot oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Grease about a dozen little queen cake molds with clarified butter and dust with a mixture of equal parts castor sugar and flour.
Clean the currants or chop the cherries, and shred the candied peel.
Sift the flour and baking powder together.
Make the batter
Cream the butter and grated lemon rind with the sugar until thoroughly combined.
Add the eggs one at a time to the butter and sugar mixture, beating well after each addition.
Gently stir in the flour and fruits.
Bake
Bake immediately for 15 minutes or until golden, allowing the oven to cool slightly after the first few 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.
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + flourtop 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).
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Butter + lemontop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,227 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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Butter + curranttop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,856 recipes
Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).
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
- Creams with the sugar to form a tender, rich crumb and adds flavour.
- Eggs
- Add structure and richness, binding the batter and helping it rise.
- Flour
- Provides the structure that sets the cakes as they bake.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the batter, helping the cakes rise in the oven.
- Castor sugar
- Sweetens the batter and, creamed with butter, helps trap air for lightness.
- Currants or glace cherries
- Add fruit flavour and sweetness scattered through the crumb.
The step that matters
Gently stir in the flour and fruits. Overmixing develops gluten in the flour, making the cakes tough and dense. Stir just until combined so the crumb stays light and tender.
Swap the currant
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, sugar, flour, lemon, egg):
- Raisinfits better
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Currantthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, sugar, flour, lemon, egg. 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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