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 Short Cake
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.
Make the batter
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a bowl, rub together the sugar and butter.
Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
Stir in the milk and strawberry flavor.
Sift together the baking powder and flour, then mix into the wet ingredients.
Pour the batter into layer cake tins and bake until golden.
Assemble and serve
Once baked, layer the cake with fresh strawberries and sprinkle sugar over them.
Repeat with another layer and serve.
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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Milk + strawberrytop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,130 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Butter + flourtop 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).
Butter and flour 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
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness, and helps give the cake a tender crumb.
- Flour
- Provides the structure that holds the cake together as it bakes.
- Eggs
- Add structure and richness, and help bind the batter.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas during baking so the cake rises and becomes light.
- Milk
- Adds moisture and loosens the batter for an even bake.
The step that matters
Sift the baking powder and flour, then fold into the wet ingredients. Baking powder needs to be evenly distributed through the batter so the cake rises uniformly. Mixing too vigorously after adding flour can develop gluten and make the crumb tough.
Swap the strawberry
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, flour, egg, milk, sugar):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits better
- Figfits better
- Strawberrythe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, flour, egg, milk, sugar. 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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