Why it works: Flour and milk 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 ↓
Flannel Cakes
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
Put a tablespoonful of butter into a quart of milk and warm them together until the butter has melted; then stir it well and set it aside to cool.
Beat five eggs as light as possible and stir them into the milk in turn with three pints of sifted flour; add a small teaspoonful of salt and a large tablespoonful and a half of the best fresh yeast.
Set the pan of batter near the fire to rise; if the yeast is good, it will be light in three hours.
Bake and serve
Bake the batter on a griddle in the manner of buckwheat cakes.
Serve the cakes hot at the table and cut them into four pieces.
The batter may also be baked in waffle irons; if so, serve with powdered white sugar and cinnamon.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 4 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Milk | 1 cup (244ml) whole | 149 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Salt | 1 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.
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.
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.
-
Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Flour and milk 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
- Eggs
- Beaten in to add lift and structure to the batter as it rises.
- Yeast (in the method)
- Produces gas as it ferments, making the batter rise and become light.
- Flour
- Forms the structure that holds the risen batter together when baked.
- Milk
- Hydrates the flour and gives the batter its moisture and tenderness.
- Butter (in the method)
- Adds fat for richness and a softer crumb in the finished cakes.
The step that matters
Letting the batter rise. Yeast needs time and warmth to ferment; if the batter is under-risen, the cakes bake up dense rather than light. Rising time depends on yeast quality, so check that the batter has become light and airy before 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.
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