Why it works: Cream and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 20% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 30,481 recipes. Both carry acetaldehyde, which smells pungent, ethereal. The science ↓
Formula for a Baking-Powder
Ingredients
Directions
Mix and sift
Measure and combine cream of tartar, bicarbonate of soda, and cornstarch or fine flour in a bowl.
Sift the mixture at least twice with the dry ingredients before use to preserve the gas.
Store
Store in a dry place until ready to use.
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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Cream + flourtop 20% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together30,481 recipes
Shared aroma: acetaldehyde (pungent, ethereal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cream of tartar
- Provides the acid that reacts with bicarbonate of soda to release gas for rising.
- Bicarbonate of soda
- Provides the alkaline base that releases carbon dioxide gas when combined with the acid.
- Cornstarch
- Absorbs moisture and keeps the powder dry and free-flowing, so the acid and base do not react early.
The step that matters
Store in a dry place. Moisture lets the acid and bicarbonate react before baking, using up the carbon dioxide gas that makes doughs rise. Keeping the powder dry preserves its leavening strength.
“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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