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Pancakes

A batter of eggs, milk, flour, and sugar cooked into pancakes, topped with sliced apples, brown sugar, and cinnamon.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Pancakes

Why it works: Apple and cinnamon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,598 recipes. Both carry methyl cinnamate, which smells strawberry. The science ↓

Pancakes

Ingredients

Directions

Make the batter

  1. In a bowl, break the eggs and add a drop of milk and salt.

  2. Mix in the sugar and beat well with a fork.

  3. Gradually add the flour to make a smooth paste, then mix in the milk.

Cook the pancakes

  1. Heat the butter or lard in a frying pan.

  2. Pour 3-4 tablespoons of batter into the pan and cook until golden on one side.

  3. Flip and cook the other side until golden.

Layer and bake

  1. Place the pancake on a baking sheet and layer with apple slices and brown sugar mixed with cinnamon.

  2. Add another pancake on top, sprinkle with sugar, and bake for 15 minutes.

  3. Serve hot or cold.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Apple + cinnamontop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,598 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).

  2. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  3. Flour + cinnamontop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,341 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  4. Milk + cinnamontop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together12,655 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  5. Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together30,779 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

Sugar and cinnamon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 30,779 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
Bind the batter and give the pancakes structure as they set.
Flour
Forms the body of the batter and sets to give the pancakes structure.
Butter or lard
Fat for frying that helps the pancakes brown evenly and adds flavour.
Apple
Adds fruit moisture and tartness that contrasts with the sweet filling.
Brown sugar
Adds sweetness and caramelises slightly in the oven for flavour and colour.

The step that matters

Cook each side until golden, not dark. Medium heat lets the batter set through while browning gently. Too hot a pan scorches the outside before the centre sets, leaving the pancake raw inside and bitter on the surface.

Swap the apple

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, milk, sugar, flour, butter, cinnamon):

  1. Vanillafits better
  2. Raisinfits better
  3. Figfits better
  4. Applethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against egg, milk, sugar, flour, butter, cinnamon. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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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