Why it works: Milk and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Corn Cake
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. The book gives no cooking times either; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Make the batter
In a large bowl, combine the milk, cornmeal, and melted butter.
Add the eggs and mix well.
In a separate bowl, mix the cream of tartar, baking soda, salt, and sugar.
Combine the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients and stir until smooth.
Bake
Pour the batter into a greased baking dish.
Bake for 25-30 minutes or 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.
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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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Butter + sugartop 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
- Cornmeal
- Provides the main structure and the grainy, hearty body of the cake.
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and help it set firm as it bakes.
- Milk
- Hydrates the cornmeal and adds moisture and tenderness to the crumb.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and a tender texture.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the cream of tartar to produce gas that lifts the batter.
- Cream of tartar
- Acidifies the batter so it reacts with baking soda, helping the cake rise.
The step that matters
Stir the dry and wet ingredients until smooth. Mixing the leavening evenly through the batter ensures the baking soda and cream of tartar react throughout, giving an even rise. Overmixing after the liquids are combined can toughen the crumb, so stop once the batter is smooth.
“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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