Why it works: Milk and butter 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 ↓
Griddle Cakes
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Sift the flour, salt, and baking soda together.
Slowly add the milk and beat until smooth.
Stir in the melted butter.
If using, add the well-beaten egg and mix in a little more flour.
Cook
Fry on a slightly greased hot griddle.
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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Milk + buttertop 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 + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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
- All-purpose flour
- Provides the structure that holds the batter together as it cooks.
- Sour milk or buttermilk
- Adds moisture and acidity that reacts with the baking soda to lift the cakes.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic milk to produce gas that makes the cakes rise.
- Melted butter
- Adds fat for tenderness and richness, and helps the cakes brown on the griddle.
- Egg
- Adds structure and richness to the batter.
The step that matters
Fry on a slightly greased hot griddle. A hot surface sets the outside quickly so the cakes rise before spreading, while too little grease can make them stick and tear. If the griddle is too cool, the batter spreads thin and cooks slowly.
“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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