Why it works: Flour and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 78,219 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Plain Cakes
twelve cakesIngredients
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.
Make the dough
Rub the lard into the flour.
Mix the salt and yeast in a quarter pint of the warm water, then add this mixture and the remaining half-pint of water to the flour.
Knead the dough thoroughly and place it in a warm place to rise for about one hour.
After it has risen, knead the dough again and divide it into twelve equal parts.
Shape and bake
Mould each part and roll them out into cakes about ½ inch thick.
Place the cakes on a warm baking sheet and prick them with a fork to prevent blistering.
Allow the cakes to rise again until they are about 1 inch thick.
Bake in a hot oven at 400°F (200°C) for ten 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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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour and milk barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 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
- Flour
- Forms the main structure of the dough once mixed with water.
- Yeast
- Produces gas as it ferments, making the dough rise and become light.
- Lard
- Adds fat that shortens the dough, giving a tender crumb.
- Warm water or milk
- Hydrates the flour and activates the yeast, forming a workable dough.
The step that matters
Prick the cakes before the second rise. Pricking lets steam escape from the dough, which prevents blistering and uneven puffing in the oven.
“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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