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 ↓
White Mountain Corn Cake
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Scald the milk in a saucepan.
Beat the eggs thoroughly in a bowl.
Make the batter
When the milk comes to a boil, stir in the cornmeal.
Remove from heat and add the beaten eggs.
Bake
Bake immediately in a thin layer for 20 minutes.
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
- Milk
- Provides liquid that hydrates the cornmeal and adds richness to the batter.
- Cornmeal
- Forms the main structure of the cake as its starch and protein set during baking.
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and help it set, giving the cake structure and a tender crumb.
The step that matters
Add the beaten eggs off the heat. Eggs added to a very hot cornmeal mixture can scramble into lumps. Removing the pan from heat first lets the eggs blend smoothly into the batter before baking.
“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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