Why it works: Sugar and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 43,450 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓
Johnny Cake
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
In a bowl, mix baking soda, sugar, cream of tartar, and salt.
Add the egg and sweet milk, then stir in the cornmeal and flour until you have a thin batter.
Cook
Pour the batter onto a hot griddle and cook until golden brown on both sides.
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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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Cream + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together29,399 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Milk and flour 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
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the cream of tartar to produce gas that lifts the batter and helps it rise.
- Cream of tartar
- Acidifies the batter so it reacts with the baking soda, adding lift and a tender crumb.
- Egg
- Binds the batter and adds structure and richness as it sets on the griddle.
- Cornmeal
- Provides the coarse, grainy texture and corn flavor that define the cake.
- Flour
- Adds structure so the cakes hold together while cooking.
- Sweet milk
- Hydrates the dry ingredients and forms the thin batter, adding moisture and tenderness.
The step that matters
Cooking on a hot griddle. The griddle must be hot enough to set the batter quickly and brown it on both sides. If it is too cool, the cakes spread, absorb grease, and cook through slowly without browning well.
“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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