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Scalloped Cornlet

A baked dish of canned corn mixed with milk, butter, and breadcrumbs, topped with melted butter and baked until browned.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Bread and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,232 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Scalloped Cornlet

Oven, in the book's wordsA hot oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure. The book gives no cooking times; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.

Prepare

  1. Mix the cornlet and milk in a bowl, then season with salt and pepper.

  2. Pour the mixture into a buttered baking dish.

  3. Cut 1 tablespoon of butter into small pieces and distribute it in the dish.

Top and bake

  1. Melt the remaining butter and mix in the bread crumbs for the topping.

  2. Sprinkle the crumb mixture over the cornlet.

  3. Bake in a 400°F (200°C) oven for 20 to 30 minutes until browned.

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.

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. Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,232 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).

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

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

  3. Milk + breadtop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together11,466 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).

  4. Bread + peppertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,964 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  5. Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together85,593 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Cornlet
Forms the main body of the dish, setting into a soft, custardy base when baked.
Milk
Adds moisture and softness, helping the corn mixture bake tender rather than dry.
Bread crumbs
Form the topping that browns and crisps in the oven, contrasting with the soft corn beneath.
Butter
Adds richness and fat, and helps the topping brown as it bakes.

The step that matters

Bake until browned. Baking time and oven heat decide whether the topping crisps and browns or stays pale and soggy. Checking for browning at the low end of the time range helps prevent the dish from drying out.

“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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