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 ↓
Johnnie Cake
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderate oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the batter
Combine sour milk, salt, and sugar in a mixing bowl.
Beat eggs until light and add to the mixture.
Dissolve baking soda in a little cold water and stir into the bowl.
Sift together flour and cornmeal, then add to the bowl with melted butter.
Stir all ingredients together until well combined.
Bake
Pour the batter into well-buttered tins.
Bake for 30 minutes at 400°F (200°C).
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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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour and butter 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
- Sour milk
- Reacts with baking soda to lift the batter and adds a tangy flavor.
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and add structure and richness as they set in the oven.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acid in sour milk to produce gas that makes the cornbread rise.
- Cornmeal
- Provides the main body and the coarse, crumbly texture of the cornbread.
- Flour
- Adds gluten-based structure so the cornbread holds together when baked.
- Melted butter
- Adds fat for moistness, tenderness, and rich flavor.
The step that matters
Dissolve baking soda in a little cold water and stir into the bowl. Baking soda needs an acid, such as the sour milk, to release carbon dioxide. Stirring it in evenly distributes the gas-producing reaction through the batter so the cornbread rises uniformly rather than in pockets or unevenly.
“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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