Why it works: Flour and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Baked Corn No. 1
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Prepare the corn by husking and removing the silk.
Cut the kernels in half with a sharp knife, then scrape them off the cob with the back of the knife.
Mix and bake
In a bowl, mix the corn, flour, nut meal, and salt.
Add hot water and zwieola, and mix well.
Drop spoonfuls of the mixture onto oiled baking tins.
Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) for 45 minutes or until light 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.
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.
-
Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Corn + flourtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,165 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Corn + buttertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,345 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
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
- Fresh sweet corn
- Provides the main bulk and natural sweetness of the cakes.
- White flour
- Gives the batter structure so the cakes hold their shape when baked.
- Nut meal
- Adds body and a toasty, nutty flavour to the batter.
- Zwieola
- Adds fat, which keeps the cakes tender and helps them brown.
The step that matters
Baking until light brown. Baking for the full time without checking can dry out the cakes or over-brown them. Browning comes from sugars and proteins reacting in the heat, so the colour is a useful guide to doneness.
“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.
You might also like
Corn Fritters203 recipes
Cream of Corn Soup50 recipes
Green Corn Soup46 recipes
Cornmeal Gruel41 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.