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Dessert

Old Fashioned Fried Cakes

A batter of sour milk, egg, flour, rye meal, baking soda, molasses, and spices is deep‑fried into golden cakes.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Flour and rye 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 ↓

Old Fashioned Fried Cakes

Ingredients

Directions

Make the batter

  1. In a bowl, mix sour milk, egg, flour, baking soda, rye meal, salt, molasses, and mixed spices until well combined.

Fry and serve

  1. Drop spoonfuls of the batter into deep, hot fat.

  2. Fry until golden brown.

  3. Serve hot with maple syrup.

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.

  1. Flour + ryetop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,320 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  2. Milk + ryetop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together918 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).

  3. Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together78,219 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  4. Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together106,462 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Flour + molassestop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,429 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

Milk and flour 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

Egg
Binds the batter and adds structure as it sets in the hot fat.
Baking soda
Reacts with the sour milk to produce gas, helping the cakes rise and lighten.
Flour
Forms the main structure of the batter once it cooks.
Rye meal
Adds a dense, earthy texture and flavour to the cakes.
Sour milk
Provides moisture and acidity that activates the baking soda.
Molasses
Adds sweetness, dark colour and moisture to the batter.

The step that matters

Fry in deep, hot fat. If the fat is not hot enough, the batter absorbs oil and turns greasy instead of crisping. If it is too hot, the outside browns before the centre cooks through. Steady heat gives an evenly cooked, golden cake.

“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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