Why it works: Flour and buttermilk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,721 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Soda Biscuits
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°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 your oven to 400°F (200°C).
In a large bowl, sift the flour, baking soda, and baking powder together.
Make a well in the center and add the lard and salt.
Make the dough
Mix until the dough is stiff enough to roll without sticking.
Gradually add buttermilk until the dough comes together.
Roll out the dough and cut into biscuits.
Bake
Place on a baking sheet and bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden.
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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Flour + buttermilktop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,721 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- All-purpose flour
- Forms the structure that holds the biscuits together as they bake.
- Lard
- Coats flour particles to keep the biscuits tender and flaky.
- Buttermilk
- Hydrates the flour to form the dough and adds slight acidity.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with acidic buttermilk to produce gas that helps the biscuits rise.
- Baking powder
- Provides additional leavening so the biscuits rise in the oven.
The step that matters
Mix until the dough is stiff enough to roll without sticking. Overmixing develops gluten, making the biscuits tough, while too little mixing leaves dry, crumbly dough. Adding buttermilk gradually lets you control hydration.
“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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