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 ↓
Corn-cake
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the batter
Sprinkle the cornmeal into the hot milk and remove from heat.
Add the butter and salt while the milk is hot.
Beat the yolks and mix them into the cornmeal mixture.
Fold in the beaten egg whites until well combined.
Bake
Preheat your greased pans or one large pan and butter them thoroughly.
Bake for 20 minutes or more, depending on the size of the pans, in a 400°F (200°C) oven.
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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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Yolks enrich and bind the batter, while whipped whites add lift and a lighter crumb.
- Cornmeal
- Forms the body of the cake, setting into a firm, crumbly structure as it bakes.
- Sweet milk
- Hydrates the cornmeal and gives the batter its moist, tender base.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and a softer texture, and helps keep the crumb moist.
The step that matters
Folding in the egg whites. Whites hold air only if they are beaten properly and folded in gently. Stirring hard knocks that air out, so the cake bakes denser and flatter.
“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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