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
Make the batter
In a large bowl, combine the milk, eggs, salt, melted butter, and yeast.
Gradually add flour until the batter is as thick as for buckwheat cakes.
Let the batter rest for a few minutes.
Cook the cakes
Heat a griddle over medium heat.
Pour batter to form cakes.
Cook until bubbles form on the surface, then flip and cook 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.
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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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Butter and flour 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
- Milk
- Supplies the liquid that hydrates the flour and helps the cakes brown through its milk sugars.
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and add structure and richness as they set on the griddle.
- Yeast
- Produces gas that makes the batter rise and gives the cakes a light, airy texture.
- Flour
- Forms a gluten network that gives the cakes body and holds their shape.
- Butter
- Adds fat that tenderizes the crumb and contributes flavor.
The step that matters
Flipping at the bubbles. Bubbles forming on the surface show that the top has set enough to hold together. Flipping earlier tears the cake and leaves wet batter in the center, while waiting too long can dry it out and make it less golden.
“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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