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 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.
Make the shortcake
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
In a bowl, mix flour, baking powder, and salt.
Cut in the cold butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
Stir in the sugar and milk until just combined.
Divide the batter between two greased cake tins and bake for 15-20 minutes until golden.
Prepare the strawberries
In a separate bowl, mix the sliced strawberries with ¾ cup sugar and let sit for 30 minutes.
Assemble and serve
Once the cakes are cool, slice them in half horizontally.
Layer the strawberries between the cake layers, finishing with a layer of strawberries on top.
Serve with whipped cream or pot charlotte russe.
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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Flour + buttertop 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).
Flour and butter 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
- All-purpose flour
- Forms the structure of the shortcake crumb as it bakes.
- Unsalted butter
- Cut into the flour to create a tender, flaky-textured crumb.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas during baking so the shortcake rises and stays light.
- Milk
- Hydrates the flour so the batter binds and bakes into a soft cake.
- Fresh strawberries
- Provide the fruit flavor and juice that soak into the shortcake layers.
- Granulated sugar
- Sweetens the shortcake and draws juice out of the strawberries when macerated.
The step that matters
Cut in the cold butter until coarse crumbs form. Keeping the butter cold and in visible pieces creates small pockets that steam during baking, giving a tender, flaky crumb. Overworking the mixture or letting the butter soften makes the shortcake dense.
“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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