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 ↓
Breakfast Cakes
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a very hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the dough
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
In a bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt.
Knead in the lard or butter.
Moisten the mixture with milk to achieve a proper consistency.
Handle the dough as little as possible and roll it out lightly.
Shape and bake
Cut into round cakes about 1 inch thick.
Bake in the preheated oven until golden.
Slice and butter well before serving.
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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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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Milk + creamtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together29,399 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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 sets as the cakes bake.
- Lard or butter
- Kneaded into the flour to add tenderness and a rich flavour.
- Milk
- Moistens the dough so it holds together and bakes moist.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acid in the cream of tartar to produce gas that lifts the cakes.
- Cream of tartar
- Acts as an acid that works with the baking soda to help the cakes rise.
The step that matters
Handle the dough as little as possible. Mixing and kneading develop gluten in flour, which makes cakes tough. Light handling keeps the texture tender and flaky, and the leavening works best when the dough is not overworked.
“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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