Why it works: Wheat and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,418 recipes. Both carry (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal, which smells cucumber, melon. The science ↓
Graham Griddle Cakes
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the batter
In a bowl, mix the graham flour, wheat flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt.
Gradually add milk to the dry mixture to form a batter.
In a separate bowl, beat the eggs and then add them to the batter.
Melt the butter and mix it into the batter.
Cook
Preheat a well-greased griddle or hot plate and pour the batter to cook.
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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Wheat + milktop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,418 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).
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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Flour + wheattop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,373 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Wheat + buttertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,002 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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
- Graham flour
- Gives the cakes their coarse, nutty texture and characteristic brown color.
- Wheat flour
- Provides gluten for structure so the cakes hold together when cooked.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the batter so the cakes rise and become light.
- Eggs
- Add structure and richness, helping bind the batter as it sets.
- Butter
- Adds fat for tenderness and flavor and helps keep the cakes from drying out.
- Sugar or molasses
- Adds sweetness and helps the surface brown during cooking.
The step that matters
Preheat a well-greased griddle before pouring the batter. A properly hot, greased surface sets the outside of each cake quickly, preventing sticking and spreading. Cooking on a cool surface lets the batter spread and absorb grease, giving pale, flat, or stuck cakes.
“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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