Why it works: Milk and butter 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 ↓
Griddle Cakes
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
In a bowl, mix the flour, sweet milk, salt, melted butter, baking powder, and egg (if using) until smooth.
Cook the cakes
Heat a griddle over medium heat and lightly grease it.
Pour batter onto the griddle to form cakes and cook until bubbles form on the surface.
Flip and cook until golden brown on the other side.
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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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Flour and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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
- Flour
- Provides the main structure of the cakes as its proteins set during cooking.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas when heated, making the cakes rise and turn light and airy.
- Egg
- Adds structure and richness, helping bind the batter and set the cakes.
- Sweet milk
- Hydrates the flour and adds moisture, giving the batter its pourable consistency.
The step that matters
Waiting for bubbles before flipping. Flipping too early tears the cakes because the surface has not set yet. Bubbles forming and popping show the batter has set enough to hold its shape and the leavening has done its work.
“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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