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 ↓
Corn Cakes
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.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Make the batter
In a large bowl, combine cornmeal, flour, salt, and baking soda.
In another bowl, mix sweet milk, sour milk, and egg.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
Bake
Pour the batter into a greased baking dish and bake for 30 minutes.
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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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
- Cornmeal
- Forms the main body of the cakes and gives them their grainy texture.
- All-purpose flour
- Adds gluten-forming protein that gives the cakes more structure and tenderness.
- Egg
- Binds the batter and helps it set as it bakes.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic sour milk to produce gas that makes the cakes rise.
- Sour milk
- Its acidity activates the baking soda and adds tang and moisture.
The step that matters
Mix the wet and dry ingredients until just combined. Overmixing develops gluten in the flour, which can make the cakes tough and dense. Stop once no dry streaks remain, and keep the batter lumps-tolerant.
“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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