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Dessert

Graham Cakes

A cake made with graham flour, sour milk, eggs, lard, butter, sugar, and baking soda.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Martin, Maria Ewing, Mrs., [from old catalog] comp · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Graham Cakes

Why it works: Milk and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 78,219 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Graham Cakes

Ingredients

Directions

Make the batter

  1. Beat together 1 cup butter, 1 cup sugar, 1 egg, 1 cup sour milk, 1 teaspoon soda, and enough graham flour to make a stiff batter.

  2. Take 1 cup graham flour and 1 cup wheat flour, 1 cup sugar, 1 cup sour milk, 1 well beaten egg, 1 good tablespoon lard, 1 teaspoon baking powder sifted in the flour, 1 teaspoon soda dissolved in the milk, and a pinch of salt.

  3. Mix all together and bake in gem pans.

  4. Mix 2 cups sour milk, 3 cups graham flour, and 1 teaspoon soda in the milk.

  5. Beat well together.

Bake

  1. Drop into hot buttered gem pans.

  2. Bake in a quick oven 10 or 15 minutes.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

797Calories
27 gProtein
27 gFat
108 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 5 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Sour Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Lard1 tbsp (12.8g)115
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Salt1 tsp (6g)0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By Martin, Maria Ewing, Mrs., [from old catalog] comp. 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. See the original page.

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.

  1. Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together78,219 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  2. Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together106,462 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  3. Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together88,785 recipes

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

Milk and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 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
Provides the coarse, hearty body and nutty flavour that gives the cakes their structure.
Sour milk
Adds moisture and acidity that reacts with soda to help the cakes rise.
Soda (in the method)
Reacts with the acidic sour milk to release gas, lifting the batter as it bakes.
Egg
Binds the batter and adds richness and structure as it sets in the oven.
Lard
Adds fat that tenderises the crumb and helps the cakes brown at the edges.

The step that matters

Drop into hot buttered gem pans. Batter placed into a hot, greased pan starts setting and rising immediately, giving a crisp edge and an even rise. A cold pan lets the batter spread and bake dense.

“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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