Why it works: Sugar and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 98,233 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓
Thin Indian Cake
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Make the batter
In a bowl, combine the Indian meal, sugar, butter, and salt.
Add hot water gradually until the mixture is stiff enough to spread.
Bake
Spread the batter very thinly on baking tins.
Bake in a preheated oven at 400°F (200°C) for one hour.
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 + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Indian meal
- Forms the main structure of the cake as it cooks and sets.
- Hot water
- Hydrates the meal so it becomes a stiff, spreadable batter.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the surface brown in the oven.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and a softer texture.
The step that matters
Spreading the batter very thinly. A thin layer lets heat reach the centre evenly, so the cake cooks through and dries out properly rather than staying gummy inside.
“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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