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 ↓
Soda Griddle Cakes
Ingredients
Directions
Stir the milk, baking soda, and cream of tartar together in a bowl.
Gradually add flour until a thick batter forms.
Heat a griddle and fry the batter until golden brown on both sides.
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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Milk + creamtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together29,399 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Cream + flourtop 20% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together30,481 recipes
Shared aroma: acetaldehyde (pungent, ethereal).
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
- Milk
- Provides liquid that hydrates the flour and gives the batter its body.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acid in the cream of tartar to release gas that lifts the pancakes.
- Cream of tartar
- Supplies acid that reacts with the baking soda, producing bubbles for rising.
- Flour
- Forms the structure of the batter as it sets during frying.
The step that matters
Frying the batter. The leavening reaction starts as soon as the wet ingredients combine, so the batter should be fried promptly to keep the bubbles that give lift. Cooking over moderate heat lets the centre set before the outside browns too quickly.
“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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