Why it works: Flour and nutmeg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 18,623 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Johnny Cake
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point. The book gives no cooking times either; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare
Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C).
Make the batter
In a bowl, mix together the buttermilk, sugar, and egg.
In another bowl, combine the flour, cornmeal, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg.
Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture, stirring until just combined.
Pour the batter into a greased baking dish.
Bake
Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean.
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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Flour + nutmegtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,623 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Buttermilk + flourtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,721 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
-
Buttermilk + sugartop 9% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,973 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
-
Sugar + flourtop 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 egg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 106,462 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
- Buttermilk
- Adds moisture and acidity that tenderises the crumb and reacts with the baking soda.
- Egg
- Binds the batter and adds structure as the cake sets in the oven.
- All-purpose flour
- Provides gluten and starch that give the cake its structure.
- Cornmeal
- Gives the cake its grainy texture and a toasty, corn flavour.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic buttermilk to produce gas that makes the cake rise.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the crust brown as it bakes.
The step that matters
Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture, stirring until just combined.. Overmixing once flour meets liquid develops gluten, which makes the cake tough and dense. Stop stirring as soon as no dry streaks remain.
Swap the nutmeg
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (buttermilk, sugar, flour, egg):
- Jalapenofits better
- Cinnamonfits about as well
- Nutmegthe original
- Dillfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against buttermilk, sugar, flour, egg. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“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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