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Flannel Cakes

A yeast-risen batter of flour, water, eggs and milk, baked on a hot griddle.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Flour and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 78,219 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Flannel Cakes

Ingredients

Directions

Make the rising

  1. Combine ½ lb flour, ½ cup water, and 1 teaspoon salt to make a rising.

  2. Let it sit for 5 to 6 hours until well risen.

Make the batter

  1. Beat 4 eggs until light.

  2. Stir in 2 cups warm milk.

  3. Stir in 3 lbs flour.

  4. Add the rising and 1 teaspoon salt, and mix well.

Rise and bake

  1. Let it rise again for about 2 hours.

  2. Bake on a hot griddle, slightly greased.

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. Flour + milktop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together78,219 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  2. Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together106,462 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

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

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

Flour and milk barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 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

Flour
Forms the gluten network that gives the cakes their body and structure.
Eggs
Add structure and richness, and help the batter hold its lift while cooking.
Warm milk
Adds moisture and softness, and helps the batter spread evenly on the griddle.
Water
Hydrates the flour in the rising so it can ferment and develop.

The step that matters

Letting the rising become well risen. The cakes get their lightness from gas produced during slow fermentation. Cutting the first rise short leaves the batter dense, and the second rise should be given time as well.

“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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