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 ↓
Batter Cakes
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
In a bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt.
In another bowl, beat the eggs and mix in the milk and melted butter.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until just combined.
Let the batter sit for 30 minutes before cooking.
Cook
Cook on a hot griddle until golden brown.
For waffles, use the same batter in a waffle iron.
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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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 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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Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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
- Flour
- Provides the starch and gluten network that gives the cakes their structure.
- Eggs
- Add structure as they set and contribute richness and moisture.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas when heated, making the cakes rise and become light.
- Milk
- Adds moisture and hydrates the flour, giving a tender batter.
- Butter
- Adds fat that tenderizes the crumb and contributes to browning.
The step that matters
Stir the wet and dry ingredients until just combined. Once flour meets liquid, stirring develops gluten. Overmixing makes the cakes tough and chewy, so a few lumps are fine.
“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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