Why it works: Buttermilk and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,721 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Breakfast Cakes
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
In a bowl, combine buttermilk, baking soda, and salt.
Stir in sifted wheat flour until the batter is thick enough to hold its shape on a spoon.
Cook the cakes
Heat a griddle and pour the batter to form cakes.
Cook until golden brown on both sides.
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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Buttermilk + flourtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,721 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Wheat + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,373 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Buttermilk + wheattop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together226 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Buttermilk
- Provides the liquid and acidity that react with baking soda to lift the cakes.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acid in buttermilk to produce gas, helping the cakes rise.
- Wheat flour
- Forms the structure that thickens the batter so it holds its shape.
The step that matters
Thickening the batter with flour. Flour must be stirred in only until the batter holds its shape on a spoon. Too little flour gives thin, flat cakes that spread on the griddle, while overmixing develops gluten and makes the cakes tough.
“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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