Why it works: Cream and sugar 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 ↓
Biscuits
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).
Sift together baking soda, cream of tartar, salt, and sugar with the flour.
Rub in the lard until no large lumps remain.
Mix in the sweet milk or water until combined.
Shape and bake
Turn the dough onto a floured board and pat it to ½ inch thick.
Prick the dough all over with a sharp knife and cut into small rounds.
Bake in the hot oven 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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Cream + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together29,399 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Sugar + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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
- All-purpose flour
- Provides the structure that holds the biscuits together and sets as they bake.
- Lard
- Rubbed into the flour to tenderize the crumb and keep the biscuits flaky.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acid in cream of tartar to release gas that makes the biscuits rise.
- Cream of tartar
- Provides acidity that reacts with baking soda to leaven the dough and add tang.
- Sweet milk or water
- Hydrates the flour so the dough comes together and gluten can form.
The step that matters
Rub in the lard until no large lumps remain. Fat coating the flour particles limits gluten formation, so the biscuits stay tender; large unmixed lumps can bake greasy and uneven.
“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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