Why it works: Sugar and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 43,450 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓
Rich Johnny Cake
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point. The book gives no cooking times either; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare the batter
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a bowl, mix the cornmeal, flour, sugar, and salt.
In another bowl, combine the cream (or milk and eggs) with the baking soda dissolved in hot water.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix well.
Sift the cream of tartar into the flour mixture and stir until combined.
Bake
Pour the batter into a greased baking dish and bake for 30-40 minutes or 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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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Flour + creamtop 20% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together30,481 recipes
Shared aroma: acetaldehyde (pungent, ethereal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- White cornmeal
- Provides the coarse, grainy body and the characteristic corn flavor of the cake.
- Flour
- Gives the cake structure so it holds together after baking.
- White sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the crust brown in the oven.
- Cream or milk and eggs
- Supplies moisture and fat for a tender crumb, with eggs adding structure if used.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acid in the batter to release gas, helping the cake rise.
- Cream of tartar
- Acts as an acid that works with the baking soda to leaven the batter and add tang.
The step that matters
Combining the baking soda and cream of tartar. Baking soda and cream of tartar must react with the batter's liquid while it is mixed and in the oven to produce gas. Leaving the batter to stand before baking, or mixing too slowly, lets the gas escape and reduces rise.
“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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