Why it works: Butter and milk 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 ↓
Wheat Griddle Cakes with Baking Powder
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
In another bowl, beat the eggs and mix in the melted butter.
Add the egg mixture to the dry ingredients.
Gradually add milk until the batter reaches a pourable consistency.
Cook
Heat a griddle over medium heat and 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.
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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Butter + milktop 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).
-
Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Flour + eggtop 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
- Flour
- Forms the main structure of the batter as it sets on the griddle.
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and add structure and richness to the cakes.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the batter, making the cakes rise and turn light.
- Butter
- Adds fat for tenderness and flavor, and helps browning on the griddle.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the cakes brown evenly.
The step that matters
Flipping at the right moment. Flip only when bubbles form and the surface looks set. Flipping too early tears the cake and traps batter, while waiting too long can dry the centre and over-brown the underside.
“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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