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 ↓
Johnny Cake
Ingredients
Directions
In a bowl, combine buttermilk, molasses, and egg.
Add salt and baking soda, then mix well.
Stir in cornmeal and enough flour to create a dough thicker than cake batter.
Pour the mixture into a greased baking dish and bake 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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Buttermilk + molassestop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together526 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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Molasses + flourtop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,429 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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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 or sour milk
- Provides acidity that reacts with baking soda to lift the batter and adds tangy moisture.
- Molasses
- Adds sweetness, dark color, and moisture, helping the crust brown.
- Egg
- Binds the ingredients together and adds structure to the batter.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic buttermilk to produce carbon dioxide, helping the cake rise.
- Cornmeal
- Gives the cake its coarse, grainy texture and structure.
- Flour
- Adds structure so the batter holds together as a thicker dough.
The step that matters
Mix in the baking soda. Baking soda needs acid from the buttermilk to react and release gas. Mixing it in well distributes the reaction evenly, so the cake rises uniformly rather than in patches.
“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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