Why it works: Milk and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 88,785 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Corn Muffins
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
Beat the egg whites until stiff and set aside.
In a bowl, combine the cornmeal, baking powder, and salt.
In another bowl, beat the egg yolks, then add melted lard and milk.
Mix and bake
Mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until just combined.
Gently fold in the beaten egg whites.
Pour the batter into hot, buttered muffin rings and bake until golden.
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.
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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Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Yolks add richness and binding, while whipped whites lighten the batter and help it rise.
- Cornmeal
- Forms the main structure and gives the muffins their characteristic grainy texture.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the batter, causing the muffins to rise and become light.
- Lard
- Adds fat for tenderness and moisture, and helps the crust brown.
- Milk
- Hydrates the cornmeal and adds moisture and softness to the batter.
The step that matters
Fold in the beaten egg whites gently. Whipped egg whites hold air that gives lift. Stirring vigorously knocks that air out, leaving dense muffins, so fold only until the white streaks disappear.
“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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