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 ↓
Sponge Corn-cake
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.
Prepare the batter
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Sift together the cornmeal, flour, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl.
In a small bowl, cream the softened butter until light.
In another bowl, beat the egg yolks until thick and frothy.
In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.
Gradually add the sugar to the egg yolks while beating continuously.
Add the creamed butter to the dry ingredients, then mix in the egg yolk and sugar mixture.
Slowly add the sour milk, mixing until the batter is soft and light.
Gently fold in the beaten egg whites until just combined.
Bake and serve
Pour the batter into buttered pie plates, filling them nearly full.
Bake for 15 minutes without opening the oven, then check and rotate the plates if necessary.
Bake for a total of 30 minutes or until golden.
Remove from the oven and let cool slightly before slicing and serving.
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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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).
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Flour + sugartop 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).
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
- Eggs
- Whipped whites lift the batter and yolks add richness and structure as the cake sets.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the sour milk's acidity to produce gas that leavens the cake.
- Sour milk
- Its acidity activates the baking soda and tenderizes the crumb.
- All-purpose flour
- Provides the main structure that holds the cake together as it bakes.
- Cornmeal
- Adds a coarse, slightly grainy texture and corn flavor to the crumb.
- Unsalted butter
- Adds fat for tenderness and a rich flavor.
The step that matters
Folding in the egg whites. Whipped whites hold the air that lightens the batter. Folding gently and only until combined keeps that air in, while overmixing deflates it and leaves a denser cake.
“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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