Why it works: Butter and milk 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 Muffins
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the batter
In a bowl, beat the eggs until very light.
Add the sugar, butter, and salt, and mix well.
In another bowl, combine the flour, cornmeal, and baking powder.
Gradually add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture, alternating with the sweet milk.
Bake
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C) and butter the muffin pans.
Spoon a large amount of batter into each pan.
Bake until golden brown.
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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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Walnut + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,873 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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
- Bind the batter and add structure and richness as they set in the oven.
- Flour
- Provides the main structure that holds the muffins together as they bake.
- Cornmeal
- Gives the muffins their characteristic corn flavor and a slightly coarse, crumbly texture.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the batter, causing the muffins to rise in the oven.
- Sweet milk
- Hydrates the dry ingredients and adds moisture to the batter.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the crust brown during baking.
The step that matters
Gradually add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture, alternating with the sweet milk. Adding the dry ingredients in alternating portions with the milk keeps the batter smooth and evenly hydrated. Mixing too vigorously once the flour is in can develop gluten and make the muffins tough.
Swap the walnut
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar, butter, flour, milk):
- Almondfits better
- Chestnutfits about as well
- Milletfits about as well
- Walnutthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sugar, butter, flour, milk. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“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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