Why it works: Butter and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Cream 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.
Make the dough
In a saucepan, combine the butter and boiling water.
Once it boils, add the flour and stir for five minutes.
Remove from heat and let cool slightly.
Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
Stir in the baking soda.
Bake
Pour the batter into a greased baking dish and bake at 350°F (175°C) for 30 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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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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, tenderizing the batter and contributing to a soft crumb.
- All-purpose flour
- Provides the structure that sets the batter as it bakes.
- Eggs
- Add structure and binding, helping the batter rise and set in the oven.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with acidic ingredients to produce gas that helps the cakes rise.
The step that matters
Adding the eggs one at a time. Adding eggs gradually and mixing well after each one lets them emulsify fully into the batter. Dumping them in together can leave the batter split or lumpy, which affects how evenly the cakes rise and set.
“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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