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Dessert

Rye and Indian Drop Cakes

A batter of Indian meal, rye meal, eggs, molasses, and salt is dropped into hot fat and fried.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Rye and milk work together. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 918 recipes. Both carry ethyl 2-methylbutyrate, which smells fruity, apple. The science ↓

Rye and Indian Drop Cakes

Ingredients

Directions

Make the batter

  1. In a bowl, combine Indian meal, rye meal, eggs, molasses, and salt.

  2. Gradually add cold milk until the batter is smooth and can drop from a spoon.

Fry and serve

  1. Heat fat in a pan until hot.

  2. Drop spoonfuls of batter into the hot fat and fry 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.

  1. Rye + milktop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together918 recipes

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

  2. Rye + molassestop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together804 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  3. Egg + milktop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together88,785 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  4. Molasses + milktop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together7,243 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  5. Rye + eggtop 32% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together484 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Indian meal
Forms the main body of the cake, giving it a coarse, hearty texture.
Rye meal
Adds a deeper, earthier flavor and a denser crumb than cornmeal alone.
Eggs
Bind the batter together and help hold the drop shape while frying.
Molasses
Adds sweetness, dark color, and a rich flavor that browns well in the fat.

The step that matters

Drop spoonfuls into hot fat. If the fat is not hot enough, the batter absorbs oil and becomes greasy instead of forming a crisp, golden crust. Adding batter only once the fat is hot sears the outside quickly, so the cakes hold their shape and brown evenly.

“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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