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 ↓
Batter Cakes
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the batter
In a large bowl, combine the flour and baking soda, ensuring the soda is finely pulverized.
In another bowl, beat the egg yolks and mix them with the sour milk and melted butter.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
Gently fold in the beaten egg whites just before cooking.
Cook the pancakes
Heat a griddle over medium heat.
Pour batter onto the griddle to form cakes.
Cook until bubbles form, then flip.
Cook until golden.
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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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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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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
- All-purpose flour
- Provides the structure that holds the pancakes together as they set.
- Sour milk
- Its acidity reacts with the baking soda to produce rising and a tender crumb.
- Eggs
- Yolks add richness and binding, while whipped whites lighten the batter and aid rising.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acid in the sour milk to release carbon dioxide, making the pancakes rise.
- Butter
- Adds fat for flavor and a softer, more tender texture.
The step that matters
Fold in the egg whites gently just before cooking. Whipped egg whites hold air that gives lift. Overmixing or letting them stand deflates the foam, and the pancakes turn out flat and dense. Folding keeps the air trapped.
“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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