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 ↓
Griddle Cakes
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the batter
Mix and sift the flour, salt, and baking soda.
Add the sour milk and the beaten egg.
Cook and serve
Drop spoonfuls of the batter onto a greased hot griddle.
Cook until puffed, full of bubbles, and edges are cooked.
Turn and cook the other side.
Serve with butter and maple syrup.
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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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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Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked 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
- All-purpose flour
- Provides the main structure once the batter sets on the griddle.
- Sour milk
- Adds moisture and acidity that reacts with the baking soda to lighten the batter.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic sour milk to produce gas, helping the cakes rise and puff.
- Egg
- Binds the batter and adds structure and richness to the cakes.
The step that matters
Cook until puffed and bubbling before turning. Bubbles forming on the surface show the leavening gas has done its work and the centre is set. Turning too early can deflate the cakes and leave the middle raw.
“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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