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. The book gives no cooking times; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Make the batter
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
In a bowl, cream together the sugar and butter.
Add the eggs and milk, mixing well.
Gradually stir in the flour and baking powder until smooth.
Pour the batter into two large or three small cake pans.
Bake and assemble
Bake until golden brown, about 25-30 minutes.
Once cooled, spread chopped and sweetened strawberries between the layers.
Sprinkle the top with powdered sugar and serve with whipped cream.
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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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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
- Flour
- Forms the structure that holds the cake layers together as they bake.
- Eggs
- Add structure and richness, and help the batter rise and set when baked.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cake and helps it brown during baking.
- Butter
- Adds fat for tenderness and flavor in the crumb.
- Milk
- Adds moisture and helps hydrate the flour into a batter.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the oven so the cake rises and becomes light.
The step that matters
Stir in the flour and baking powder until smooth. Mixing flour develops gluten, which gives structure; overmixing can make the cake tough and dense. Stir just until the batter is smooth so the layers stay tender.
“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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