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 ↓
Tea Cake No. 6
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a hot oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the dough
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a bowl, mix the butter with the flour and sugar until well combined.
Beat the egg yolks and add them to the mixture, mixing well.
Roll out the dough to about ¾ inch thick and cut into rounds using a tumbler.
Bake and serve
Brush the tops of the rounds with a little milk.
Place on a greased baking tin and bake for 30 minutes.
Slice, butter, and serve very hot.
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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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
- All-purpose flour
- Provides the structure that holds the dough together as it bakes.
- Butter
- Adds fat that tenderises the crumb and carries flavour.
- White sugar
- Sweetens the cake and helps the surface brown in the oven.
- Egg yolks
- Bind the dough and add richness, moisture and colour.
- Milk
- Brushed on top, it helps the surface brown during baking.
The step that matters
Rolling and cutting the dough. Rolling to an even thickness, about ¾ inch, lets the rounds bake through at the same rate. Uneven pieces bake unevenly, leaving some centres underdone or edges dry.
“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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