Why it works: Egg and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 118,967 recipes. Both carry decanal, which smells soap, orange peel. The science ↓
Corn Muffins
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the batter
Beat the eggs until very light.
Add 1 cup of buttermilk to the eggs.
Mix in the cornmeal and butter.
Stir in the remaining ½ cup of buttermilk, baking soda, and salt.
Bake
Grease your muffin tins and bake at 400°F (200°C) until golden.
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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Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Butter + buttermilktop 20% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,674 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Egg + buttermilktop 25% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,986 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Beaten until light, they add structure and help the muffins hold their shape.
- Cornmeal
- Gives the muffins their corn flavor and a coarse, tender crumb.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and a tender texture.
- Buttermilk
- Adds moisture and tang, and its acidity reacts with the baking soda.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the buttermilk's acid to release gas that lifts the muffins and aids browning.
The step that matters
Add the baking soda with the buttermilk and bake promptly. Baking soda reacts with the buttermilk's acid as soon as it is mixed in, releasing gas that makes the muffins rise. If the batter sits, much of that gas escapes, so the muffins rise less.
“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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