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 quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the shortcake
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
In a bowl, mix flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar.
Rub in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
Add the milk and mix until just combined.
Butter a jelly cake tin and press the dough into it smoothly.
Bake for 12 to 15 minutes until done.
Assemble and serve
Remove from the tin and split the cake in half.
Butter the lower half and cover with slightly mashed strawberries mixed with sugar.
Place the top half on and add whole strawberries and whipped cream if desired.
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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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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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).
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
- Flour
- Forms the structure of the cake as its starch and protein set during baking.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas during baking so the cake rises and becomes light.
- Butter
- Rubbed into the flour to make the cake tender and rich in fat.
- Milk
- Hydrates the flour to form a dough and adds moisture and browning.
- Strawberries
- Provide fruit flavour, acidity and moisture for the filling and topping.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the cake brown during baking.
The step that matters
Rub in the butter until coarse crumbs. Cold butter rubbed into flour leaves small fat pockets that make the cake tender and flaky. Overworking the mixture or melting the butter makes the texture dense and tough.
“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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