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 ↓
Corn Cake
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the batter
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
Cream the butter and sugar together in a bowl.
Sift together the cornmeal, flour, salt, and baking powder; add to the creamed mixture along with the beaten egg yolks. Mix well and gradually add the milk.
Fold in the beaten egg whites gently.
Bake
Pour the batter into muffin rings or a pan and bake for about 30 minutes.
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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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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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
- Eggs
- Yolks enrich and bind the batter, while whipped whites add lift and a lighter crumb.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the batter, causing the cake to rise as it bakes.
- All-purpose flour
- Provides gluten-based structure that holds the cake together.
- Yellow cornmeal
- Gives the cake its corn flavor and a coarser, tender texture.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and a tender, moist crumb.
- Milk
- Hydrates the dry ingredients and turns the batter into a pourable mixture.
The step that matters
Folding in the egg whites. Whites hold air only when whipped, and deflating them by stirring vigorously loses the lift they provide. Fold gently so the batter stays airy and rises evenly.
“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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