Why it works: Milk and butter 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 ↓
Corn Fritters
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
In a bowl, combine the chopped corn, egg yolks, ground toast, milk, salt, and nut butter.
Mix thoroughly until well combined.
In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form, then gently fold them into the corn mixture.
Fry and drain
Heat oil in a pan over medium-high heat.
Drop spoonfuls of the mixture into the hot oil and fry until golden brown.
Remove and drain on paper towels.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Corn + milktop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,955 recipes
Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).
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Corn + buttertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,345 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
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Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Egg + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Green corn
- Provides the main bulk and sweet corn flavor of the fritter.
- Egg yolks
- Add richness and help bind the batter together.
- Egg whites
- Whipped to stiff peaks, they add air and a light, puffy texture.
- Milk
- Adds moisture and loosens the batter so it holds together while frying.
- Ground toast
- Adds toasted flavor and some body to the batter.
- Nut butter
- Adds fat for richness and a softer, tender crumb.
The step that matters
Folding in the egg whites. Whipped egg whites trap air that gives the fritters lift. Folding gently keeps that air in; vigorous stirring deflates the foam and leaves the fritters 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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