Why it works: Milk and rice are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,374 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Corn Muffins
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Mix the batter
Dissolve the baking soda in the buttermilk or sour cream.
In a bowl, beat together the sweet milk, boiled rice, lard, buttermilk or sour cream, and the yolks of the eggs.
Fold in the beaten egg whites gently.
Add the cornmeal and mix until combined.
Bake
Pour the batter into muffin pans.
Bake at 400°F (200°C) until golden brown.
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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Milk + ricetop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,374 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Buttermilk + sugartop 9% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,973 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Milk + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Milk and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 77,875 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
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic buttermilk or sour cream to produce gas that lifts the muffins.
- Buttermilk or sour cream
- Adds acidity for the baking soda to react with, and moisture for a tender crumb.
- Eggs
- Egg whites trap air for lift, and yolks add richness and structure.
- Cornmeal
- Provides the corn flavor and the main body of the muffin.
- Lard
- Adds fat that keeps the crumb tender and moist.
- Boiled rice
- Adds moisture and softness to the crumb.
The step that matters
Fold in the beaten egg whites gently. The whites hold air that helps the muffins rise. Vigorous stirring deflates the foam, leaving the muffins dense and flat.
“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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