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 ↓
Strawberry Shortcake
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point. The book gives no cooking times either; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare the batter
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
In a bowl, mix flour, baking powder, and salt.
Cut in butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
Stir in milk until just combined.
Divide the batter between two greased cake pans.
Bake and macerate
Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.
In a separate bowl, mix strawberries with ½ cup sugar and let sit.
Assemble and serve
Once the cakes are cool, slice them in half horizontally.
Spread butter on the cut sides of the cakes.
Layer strawberries between the cake halves and on top.
Finish with whipped cream or charlotte russe.
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 + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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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).
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
- All-purpose flour
- Forms the structure of the cake as its proteins set during baking.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas when heated, lifting the batter so the cakes rise and stay light.
- Unsalted butter
- Cut into the flour to create a tender, crumbly texture and adds richness.
- Milk
- Hydrates the flour to form the batter and adds tenderness and browning.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the berries and helps draw out their juices for a syrup.
- Fresh strawberries
- Provide the fruity flavor and juicy, acidic contrast to the rich cake.
The step that matters
Cut in the butter. Cutting butter into flour until it resembles coarse crumbs leaves small cold pieces that melt in the oven, creating a tender, flaky texture. Overworking the mixture develops gluten and makes the cake tough.
“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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