Why it works: Butter and milk 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 ↓
Rock Cakes
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the dough
Sift the flour and salt into a bowl.
Rub in the butter until well combined.
Add the sugar, cleaned sultanas, and shredded candied peel.
Beat the egg in a separate bowl and stir it into the dry ingredients.
Add a little milk to form a very stiff paste.
Shape and bake
Drop spoonfuls onto a greased baking sheet using two forks.
Bake in a hot oven at 400°F (200°C) for about 12 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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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 + milktop 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
- Self-raising flour
- Provides the structure of the cakes and rises as the dough heats.
- Butter
- Rubbed into the flour to tenderise the crumb and add richness.
- Egg
- Binds the mixture and adds structure and moisture to the cakes.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the cakes brown in the oven.
- Sultanas
- Add sweetness, moisture and fruity chew throughout the cakes.
The step that matters
Forming the very stiff paste. Too much milk makes the dough slack, so the rocks spread into flat cakes instead of holding their rough, rounded shape while baking.
“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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