Name: Self-raised Buckwheat Cakes
Ingredients: 1 quart lukewarm water; 2 tablespoons molasses; self-rising buckwheat flour (enough to make a thin batter)

Why it works: Buckwheat and flour work together. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 660 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Self-raised Buckwheat Cakes

Ingredients

1 quart lukewarm water
2 tablespoons molasses
self-rising buckwheat flour (enough to make a thin batter)

Directions

In a bowl, combine lukewarm water and molasses.
Stir in enough self-rising buckwheat flour to create a thin batter.
Mix until well combined; the batter is ready to bake immediately.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

Buckwheat + flourtop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together660 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Molasses + flourtop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together10,429 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Molasses + buckwheattop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together199 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).