Why it works: Flour and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 78,219 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Galettes De Fate
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
Beat the egg whites until stiff and set aside.
In a separate bowl, beat the egg yolks until light, then add the flour and mix well.
Add the baking powder and sweet milk, mixing until smooth.
Gently fold in the beaten egg whites to create a light batter.
Cook and serve
Preheat a griddle and lightly grease it with lard or fat bacon.
Drop spoonfuls of batter onto the griddle and cook for about 2 minutes until golden brown, flipping once.
Stack the cakes on a plate, butter each one generously as they finish baking, and serve immediately.
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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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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Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Flour and milk 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
- All-purpose flour
- Forms the structure that holds the pancakes together as they cook.
- Eggs
- Whipped whites trap air for lightness, while the yolks add richness and binding.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas during cooking, making the pancakes rise and become fluffy.
- Sweet milk
- Hydrates the flour and gives the batter a smooth, pourable moisture.
The step that matters
Gently fold in the beaten egg whites. Whipped egg whites hold air that gives the pancakes their light texture. Stirring them in vigorously knocks that air out, leaving the cakes dense instead of airy.
“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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