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-take
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. 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.
Make the batter
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a bowl, cream together the sugar and butter.
Add the sweet milk and egg yolks, mixing well.
In another bowl, combine the flour, cream of tartar, and baking soda.
Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture, stirring until smooth.
Bake the layers
Pour the batter into two greased cake pans and bake for 25-30 minutes.
While the layers are baking, prepare the strawberries by sweetening them to taste.
Once the cakes are done, remove them from the oven and let them cool slightly.
Assemble and finish
Spread the sweetened strawberries between the layers and on top.
Beat the egg whites until stiff, gradually adding ½ cup sugar, then spread over the top.
Return to the oven until the meringue is light 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.
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
- Provides the structure that holds the cake's crumb together as it bakes.
- Eggs
- Yolks enrich and bind the batter, while whipped whites give the meringue its airy structure.
- Butter
- Adds fat and tenderness to the crumb and carries flavor.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cake and helps the meringue whip into a stable foam.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic cream of tartar to produce gas that helps the cake rise.
- Cream of tartar
- Acidifies the batter, reacting with baking soda for lift and stabilizing the whipped egg whites.
The step that matters
Beat the egg whites until stiff. Whites must be whipped to stiff peaks with sugar added gradually so they hold air. Under-beaten or greasy whites will deflate and weep, leaving a flat, soggy meringue.
“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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