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 Shortcake
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, mix the egg, sugar, melted butter, flour, milk, and baking powder until smooth.
Divide the batter into two greased cake pans.
Bake and assemble
Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.
Once cooled, place one layer on a serving plate, spread the mashed strawberries on top, and then add the second layer.
Top with more mashed strawberries.
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 + flourtop 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).
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Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 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 main structure that holds the cake's crumb together as it bakes.
- Eggs
- Add structure and richness, helping the batter bind and set in the oven.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas during baking so the cake rises and becomes light.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cake and contributes to browning at the surface.
- Melted butter
- Adds fat for tenderness and flavour in the crumb.
- Milk
- Hydrates the flour and adds moisture to the batter.
The step that matters
Cool the layers before assembling. Warm cake is fragile and soft, and the mashed strawberries would make it crumble and slide. Letting the layers cool fully lets them hold their shape when stacked.
“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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