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 ↓
Batter Cakes
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the batter
In a bowl, combine buttermilk, baking soda, eggs, and salt.
Gradually add flour until the batter thickens to your desired consistency.
Cook
Preheat a griddle over medium heat.
Pour batter onto the griddle and cook until bubbles form, then flip and cook until golden brown.
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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Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Buttermilk + eggtop 25% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,986 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
Egg and flour 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
- Provides liquid and acidity that gives the cakes a tender, tangy flavor.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic buttermilk to produce gas that makes the cakes rise.
- Eggs
- Add structure and richness, helping the batter set as it cooks.
- Flour
- Thickens the batter and provides the structure that holds the cakes together.
The step that matters
Pour batter onto the griddle and cook until bubbles form, then flip. Flipping too early leaves the centre raw and can tear the cake. Waiting for bubbles that stay open shows the surface has set enough to turn cleanly.
“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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