Name: Combination Muffins
Ingredients: 1 cup cornmeal; 4 teaspoons baking powder; ½ cup rye flour; 1 teaspoon salt; ½ cup bran; 1 tablespoon sugar (or syrup); 1 egg; 1 tablespoon melted fat; 1 cup milk

Why it works: Rye and flour match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,320 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Combination Muffins

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.

Prepare

Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
Mix and sift the cornmeal, baking powder, rye flour, salt, and bran.
In a separate bowl, beat together the egg and milk.

Make the batter

Add the egg and milk mixture to the dry ingredients.
Stir in the melted fat last.
Pour the batter into muffin tins.

Bake

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until golden brown.

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.

Rye + flourtop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,320 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Rye + milktop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together918 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).
Flour + milktop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together78,219 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together92,116 recipes

Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together106,462 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Flour and milk barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 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 main body and the coarse, grainy texture of the muffins.
Baking powder: Releases gas in the batter, making the muffins rise and turn light.
Egg: Adds structure as it sets, binding the muffin crumb together.
Milk: Hydrates the dry ingredients and adds moisture to the batter.
Rye flour: Adds flavour and some structure alongside the cornmeal.