Why it works: Corn and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,165 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Corn Cakes
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
In a bowl, combine the cold corn mush and flour, mixing well.
Add the lard and eggs, adjusting the number of eggs based on desired texture.
If the mixture is too stiff, add water to thin it out.
Cook
Preheat a griddle and bake the mixture rapidly 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.
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Corn + flourtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,165 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Corn + eggtop 26% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,484 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
Flour and egg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 106,462 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
- Cold corn mush
- Forms the bulk of the batter and gives the cakes their corn flavor and body.
- All-purpose flour
- Adds starch that helps bind the batter so the cakes hold together.
- Lard
- Adds fat that promotes browning and a tender, rich texture.
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and set during cooking, giving the cakes structure.
The step that matters
Bake the mixture rapidly on a hot griddle. A hot surface sets the outside quickly and browns it before the interior dries out. A cool griddle lets the cakes absorb fat and turn heavy and pale.
“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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