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 says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the batter
Sprinkle the cornmeal into the hot milk and remove from heat.
Add the butter and salt to the milk while it is still hot.
Beat the yolks and mix them into the cornmeal mixture.
Fold in the beaten egg whites until well combined.
Bake
Preheat your oven to 400°F (200°C) and thoroughly butter the pans or one large pan.
Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 20 minutes or until golden, adjusting time based on pan size.
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.
-
Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
-
Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Yolks enrich and bind the batter, while whipped whites add lift and a light, tender crumb.
- Cornmeal
- Forms the body of the cake, soaking up the hot milk to create a thick, sturdy batter.
- Sweet milk
- Provides the liquid that hydrates the cornmeal and carries moisture through the bake.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and a tender texture, and helps the crust brown.
The step that matters
Fold in the egg whites gently. Whites hold air that gives the cake its lift. Stirring vigorously deflates them, leaving a dense cake, so fold until just combined.
“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.
More corn cake recipes
You might also like
Delicate Cake246 recipes
Boiled Frosting69 recipes
Citron Cake68 recipes
Scotch Cake63 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.