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Drink

Prairie Coffee

A beverage made by boiling dried cornmeal cakes with coffee.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Wheat and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,373 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Prairie Coffee

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Make and dry the cakes

  1. Mix cornmeal, wheat flour, molasses, salt, and enough water to form a stiff dough.

  2. Roll the dough thin and cut out shapes like yeast cakes.

  3. Place the cakes in a pan.

  4. Dry the cakes in a 400°F (200°C) oven.

  5. Wait until the cakes are thoroughly dry.

  6. Brown the cakes very dark.

Brew and serve

  1. To use, place 2 or 3 dried cakes and 1 tablespoon of coffee in a pot.

  2. Pour boiling water over the cakes.

  3. Let the mixture boil.

  4. Allow it to settle.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Wheat + flourtop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,373 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  2. Wheat + coffeetop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together105 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  3. Flour + molassestop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,429 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  4. Molasses + coffeetop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together640 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  5. Flour + coffeetop 23% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together2,141 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Cornmeal
Provides the bulk and coarse, sandy texture of the dough.
Wheat flour
Gives the dough structure so it holds its cut shapes.
Molasses
Adds sweetness and moisture, and deepens the dark color when the cakes are browned.
Dried cakes
Once browned, they contribute roasted flavor to the brewed drink.
Coffee
Adds its own aroma and bitterness to the brew.

The step that matters

Dry the cakes thoroughly before browning. Cakes that still hold moisture stay soft and brown unevenly, while fully dried cakes can roast evenly and keep well for later use.

“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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