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 ↓
Indian Batter Cakes
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the batter
Mix together a quart of sifted Indian meal and a handful of wheat flour.
Warm a quart of milk.
Stir into the milk a small teaspoonful of salt and two large tablespoonfuls of the best fresh yeast.
Beat three eggs very light.
Stir the eggs gradually into the milk in turn with the meal.
Rise and bake
Cover the mixture and set it to rise for three or four hours.
When the batter is quite light, bake it on a griddle in the manner of buckwheat cakes.
If the batter becomes sour before baking, stir in about a salt-spoonful of pearl-ash dissolved in a little lukewarm water.
Let the batter set for half an hour longer before baking.
Serve
Butter the cakes, cut them across, and serve hot with molasses in a sauce-boat.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 3 of 4 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 3 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Milk | 1 cup (244ml) whole | 149 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Wheat | not in our table | 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.
-
Wheat + milktop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,418 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).
-
Wheat + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,373 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
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
- Indian meal
- Forms the main body of the batter, giving the cakes their structure and grainy texture.
- Fresh yeast
- Ferments the batter so it rises and becomes light and airy before baking.
- Eggs
- Add richness and help bind the batter while adding lightness to the cakes.
- Milk
- Provides the liquid that hydrates the meal and feeds the yeast fermentation.
The step that matters
Let the batter rise until light. Yeast needs time to ferment the batter; baking before it is quite light yields dense cakes, while an overly sour batter can be corrected only with a little alkali.
“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.
You might also like
Wheat Muffins48 recipes
Whole Wheat Muffins12 recipes
White Cake431 recipes
Pound Cake373 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.