Why it works: Milk and flour 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 ↓
Batter Cakes
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
In a bowl, combine 2½ cups of milk with salt and flour sifted with baking powder until a stiff batter forms.
Add the yolks of the eggs and beat thoroughly until smooth.
Thin the batter with the remaining milk.
Beat the egg whites until stiff and fold them into the batter.
Cook
Cook on hot griddles 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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Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Egg + flourtop 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).
Milk and flour 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
- Eggs
- Yolks enrich and smooth the batter, while whipped whites add lift and a light texture.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas when heated, helping the cakes rise and become airy.
- Flour
- Provides the structure that holds the batter together and sets as the cakes cook.
- Sweet milk
- Hydrates the flour and loosens the batter to a pourable consistency.
The step that matters
Folding in the beaten egg whites. Whites beaten until stiff hold air that gives lightness. Overmixing when folding deflates them, leaving dense cakes that rise poorly.
“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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