Why it works: Flour and buttermilk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,721 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Breakfast 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.
Prepare the batter
Mix cornmeal, flour, buttermilk, and enough water in a bowl.
Let the batter sit overnight.
Finish and bake
In the morning, add baking soda, sugar or molasses, melted butter, and salt. Mix the batter well.
Pour the batter into a greased baking dish.
Bake at 350°F (175°C) for 1 hour.
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 + buttermilktop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,721 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Buttermilk + sugartop 9% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,973 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Flour and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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 and structure of the cake.
- All-purpose flour
- Adds some gluten structure to help the cake hold its shape.
- Buttermilk or sweet milk
- Moistens the batter and hydrates the cornmeal during the overnight rest.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidity of buttermilk to produce gas that lightens the cake.
- Sugar or molasses
- Adds sweetness and helps the crust brown in the oven.
- Melted butter
- Adds fat for richer flavour and a tender texture.
The step that matters
Adding the baking soda. Baking soda needs an acid, such as buttermilk, to release carbon dioxide and lift the batter. Mixing it in well and baking promptly keeps the rise even and prevents a dense, flat cake.
“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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