Why it works: Buttermilk and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,721 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Flannel Cakes
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the batter
Beat the egg yolks and whites separately.
Add the sour or buttermilk to the yolks, along with the baking soda.
Mix in enough flour to create a thin batter.
Gently fold in the beaten egg whites.
Bake
Bake large cakes on a griddle.
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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Buttermilk + flourtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,721 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Egg + buttermilktop 25% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,986 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
Egg and flour 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
- Eggs
- Yolks enrich the batter while beaten whites add lightness and help the cakes rise.
- Sour or buttermilk
- Its acidity reacts with the baking soda to produce gas, making the cakes rise and tender.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic sour milk or buttermilk to release carbon dioxide, leavening the batter.
- Flour
- Provides the structure that sets the cakes as they cook on the griddle.
The step that matters
Gently fold in the beaten egg whites. Whites hold air that gives the cakes lift. Stirring them vigorously deflates the foam, so the cakes come out flat and dense.
“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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