Why it works: Sugar and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 43,450 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓
Hovis Rock Cakes
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°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
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Make the dough
In a large bowl, mix the Hovis flour, lard, sugar, cream of tartar, and baking soda.
Add the eggs and mix until combined.
Stir in the currants.
Add milk gradually until the dough is soft but not sticky.
Bake
Drop spoonfuls of the mixture onto a baking sheet.
Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.
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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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
-
Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
-
Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Currant + milktop 16% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together5,475 recipes
Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).
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
- Hovis flour
- Provides the structure that holds the cakes together as they bake.
- Lard
- Adds fat that tenderises the crumb and gives a short texture.
- Eggs
- Bind the mixture and add structure and richness.
- Cream of tartar
- Acidic ingredient that reacts with baking soda to help the cakes rise.
- Baking soda
- Produces carbon dioxide with the acid, lifting the dough as it bakes.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cakes and helps them brown in the oven.
The step that matters
Adding milk gradually. Flour absorbs liquid at different rates, and too much milk at once makes the dough sticky and heavy. Adding it slowly lets you stop when the dough is soft but still holds its shape, which keeps the rock cakes light and prevents them spreading flat.
Swap the currant
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, sugar, egg, cream, milk):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits better
- Figfits better
- Currantthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, sugar, egg, cream, milk. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“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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