Why it works: Wheat and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,418 recipes. Both carry (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal, which smells cucumber, melon. The science ↓
Graham Griddle-cakes
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
In a bowl, mix together Graham flour, wheat flour, baking powder, and salt.
Add the beaten eggs, melted lard or butter, and sweet milk to the dry ingredients. Stir until well combined.
Cook
Cook immediately on a hot griddle.
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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Wheat + milktop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,418 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).
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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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Flour + wheattop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,373 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Wheat + buttertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,002 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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
- Graham flour
- Provides the coarse, nutty bran-rich body that gives the cakes their character.
- Wheat flour
- Adds gluten structure so the batter holds together while cooking.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas when heated, lifting the batter so the cakes rise and turn light.
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and add structure and richness as they set on the griddle.
- Lard or butter
- Adds fat for tenderness and a richer flavor, and helps prevent sticking.
- Sweet milk
- Hydrates the flours to form a pourable batter and adds moisture.
The step that matters
Cook immediately on a hot griddle. Baking powder starts releasing gas as soon as it meets liquid, so a delay before cooking lets the batter lose lift. A hot griddle sets the outside quickly, trapping the gas so the cakes rise instead of spreading flat.
“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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