Why it works: Corn and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,165 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Green Corn Griddle Cakes
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
In a bowl, combine the grated corn, sugar, eggs, flour, and salt, then stir until well combined.
Preheat a griddle over medium-high heat.
Cook and serve
Pour the batter onto the hot griddle and cook until golden brown on both sides.
Serve hot with maple syrup or butter and sugar.
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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Corn + flourtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,165 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Corn + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together7,168 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Egg and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 106,462 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
- Grated corn
- Provides the bulk of the batter and its sweet, moist corn flavor.
- Eggs
- Bind the grated corn and set as the cakes cook, holding them together.
- Flour
- Adds starch that thickens the batter and helps the cakes hold their shape.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the surface brown to a golden color.
The step that matters
Cook over medium-high heat until golden on both sides. Sugar in the corn and batter browns quickly, so the surface can darken before the center sets. Cooking at a steady medium-high heat lets the interior cook through while the outside turns golden, and turning the cakes once helps both sides brown evenly.
“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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