Why it works: Butter and milk 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 Cakes
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
In a large bowl, combine cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt.
In another bowl, beat the eggs and mix in the melted butter.
Add the egg mixture to the dry ingredients, then gradually stir in sweet milk until the batter is as thick as pancake batter.
Cook the cakes
Heat a griddle or skillet over medium heat and pour batter to form cakes.
Cook until bubbles form on the surface, then flip and cook 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.
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.
-
Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
-
Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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
- Cornmeal
- Provides the coarse grain structure and gritty texture that defines the cake.
- All-purpose flour
- Gives the cakes structure so they hold together when flipped.
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and add structure and richness to the cakes.
- Butter
- Adds fat for tenderness and a rich flavor.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acid in cream of tartar to produce gas that lifts the cakes.
- Cream of tartar
- Acts as an acid that activates the baking soda, helping the cakes rise.
The step that matters
Cook until bubbles form, then flip. Bubbles on the surface show the batter has set enough to turn. Flipping too early tears the cake, while waiting too long can dry it out and prevent even golden browning.
“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.
More corn cakes recipes
You might also like
Delicate Cake246 recipes
Boiled Frosting69 recipes
Citron Cake68 recipes
Scotch Cake63 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.