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 ↓
Drop Cakes
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Mix the baking powder with the flour and sift the mixture 2 or 3 times.
Cut kitchen paper to fit your baking trays and place it on the trays.
Make the batter
In a clean bowl, cream the butter and sugar together by hand.
Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Incorporate the flour mixture and add milk until the batter reaches a smooth consistency.
Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix in any remaining ingredients.
Drop and bake
Using a spoon, drop small amounts of batter onto the paper, spacing them about 1½ inches apart.
Dust the tops lightly with sugar and bake for 1 hour.
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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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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Flour + eggtop 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
- Butter
- Adds richness and tenderness; creaming it with sugar traps air that gives a light crumb.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the batter and, when creamed with butter, helps aerate it.
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and add structure while helping it hold its shape.
- Flour
- Provides the structure that sets the cakes as they bake.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the batter, helping the drop cakes rise in the oven.
- Milk
- Adds moisture and loosens the batter to a smooth, drop-able consistency.
The step that matters
Creaming the butter and sugar. Beating butter and sugar together traps air bubbles that expand in the oven and help the cakes rise. Adding eggs one at a time, beating well each time, keeps the emulsion stable so the batter does not curdle or deflate.
“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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