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 ↓
Spider Corn-cake
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a very hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the batter
Beat the eggs and sugar together.
Add sweet milk, sour milk with dissolved baking soda, and salt; mix well.
Combine cornmeal and flour with the mixture.
Bake
Heat a skillet and melt the butter, coating the sides.
Pour in the corn cake mixture and add one more cup of sweet milk without stirring.
Bake in a 400°F (200°C) oven for 20 to 35 minutes until a custard streak forms.
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.
-
Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
-
Egg + flourtop 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
- Bind the batter and add structure and richness to the crumb.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the sour milk to produce gas that lifts the cake.
- Sour milk
- Its acidity activates the baking soda and tenderizes the crumb.
- Granulated cornmeal
- Provides the main body, corn flavor and a coarse, sturdy texture.
- Flour
- Adds structure so the cake holds together when cut.
- Butter
- Coats the skillet to prevent sticking and browns the base of the cake.
The step that matters
Pouring the batter without stirring. Stirring in the extra sweet milk after pouring would knock out the air and disturb the layers. Leaving it still lets the liquid settle so a custard layer forms during baking.
“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.
More corn cake recipes
You might also like
Tomato Soup526 recipes
Brown Bread461 recipes
Mutton Broth292 recipes
Yorkshire Pudding264 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.