Why it works: Butter and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Corn Cake
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the batter
Rub the butter into the cornmeal.
Dissolve the baking soda in the sour milk.
Mix the sour milk with the cornmeal and butter.
Add cream of tartar, currants, sugar, and salt. Stir until well combined.
Bake
Pour the mixture into greased pans.
Bake in a 350°F (175°C) oven 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.
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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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Milk + curranttop 16% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together5,475 recipes
Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).
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Butter + curranttop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,856 recipes
Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cornmeal
- Forms the bulk of the cake and gives it its coarse, crumbly texture.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic sour milk to produce gas that helps the cake rise.
- Sour milk
- Supplies moisture and acid that activates the baking soda for lift.
- Cream of tartar
- Adds acidity that supports the leavening reaction and stabilizes the batter.
- Butter
- Adds fat that tenderizes the crumb and contributes richness and flavor.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the crust brown during baking.
The step that matters
Dissolve the baking soda in the sour milk. Baking soda must meet an acid to release carbon dioxide. Dissolving it fully in the sour milk spreads the reaction evenly, so the cake rises without pockets of soda or a bitter taste.
Swap the currant
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, butter, milk, cream, sugar):
- Vanillafits better
- Strawberryfits better
- Coconutfits better
- Currantthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, butter, milk, cream, sugar. 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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