Why it works: Flour and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 78,219 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Graham Griddle Cakes
Ingredients
Directions
Mix the batter
Sift together the Graham flour, cornmeal, all-purpose flour, brown sugar, salt, and baking powder.
Add the beaten egg, milk, and water; mix until smooth.
Cook
Preheat a griddle until hot.
Pour batter onto the griddle in cakes the size of a tea saucer.
Cook until brown on one side, then turn and brown the other side.
Serve
Stack the cakes and serve hot with cream and sugar or syrup.
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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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).
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Egg + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Sugar + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Flour and milk barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 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
- Graham flour
- Provides a coarse, nutty texture and wholesome body to the cakes.
- All-purpose flour
- Gives the batter structure so the cakes hold their shape on the griddle.
- Egg
- Binds the batter and adds richness and structure as it sets.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the batter, making the cakes rise and turn light.
- Milk
- Adds moisture and tenderness, and helps browning on the griddle.
- Indian cornmeal
- Adds a grainy texture and a mild corn flavour to the cakes.
The step that matters
Cook until brown on one side, then turn and brown the other side. The griddle must be hot before pouring, and cakes should be turned only once the underside is set and browned. Turning too early tears the soft batter, while a cool griddle makes the cakes pale, soggy and dense instead of golden.
“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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