Why it works: Wheat and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,418 recipes. Both carry (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal, which smells cucumber, melon. The science ↓
Graham Griddle-cakes
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
In a bowl, mix together Graham flour, wheat flour, baking powder, and salt.
Add the beaten eggs, melted lard or butter, and sweet milk to the dry ingredients. Stir until well combined.
Cook
Cook immediately on a hot griddle 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.
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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Wheat + milktop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,418 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).
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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Flour + wheattop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,373 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Wheat + buttertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,002 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and add structure and richness as they set on the griddle.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the batter so the griddle cakes rise and turn light.
- Graham flour
- Provides the bulk of the batter and gives the cakes their nutty, coarse texture.
- Sweet milk
- Hydrates the flours into a pourable batter and adds moisture to the cakes.
- Lard or butter
- Adds fat that tenderises the crumb and helps the surface brown.
The step that matters
Cook immediately on a hot griddle. Baking powder starts releasing gas as soon as it meets liquid, so the batter loses lift if it waits. A hot griddle sets the outside quickly and browns it while the inside rises.
“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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