Why it works: Buttermilk and flour 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 ↓
Corn-meal Griddle Cakes
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
Mix eggs, buttermilk, and molasses in a bowl.
Add mixture to flour and stir in enough cornmeal to achieve a batter the thickness of rich cream.
Incorporate melted lard and baking soda dissolved in a few drops of boiling water.
Beat the batter vigorously.
Cook the cakes
Preheat a griddle until very hot and grease it with a piece of fat salt pork.
Test a small amount of batter; it should run easily.
Ensure the batter is thin enough to turn with a cake turner.
If the batter is too thick, add a little more buttermilk and a pinch of baking soda.
If the batter is too thin, add more cornmeal.
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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Buttermilk + flourtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,721 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Buttermilk + molassestop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together526 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Molasses + flourtop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,429 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Buttermilk + eggtop 25% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,986 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
Egg and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 106,462 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
- Buttermilk
- Provides acidity that reacts with the baking soda to lift the batter.
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and add structure to the cakes as they set.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic buttermilk to release gas, helping the cakes rise.
- Flour
- Provides gluten and starch that give the cakes body alongside the cornmeal.
- Cornmeal
- Sets the batter's thickness and gives the cakes their grainy texture.
- Molasses
- Adds sweetness, depth of flavour, and some moisture to the batter.
The step that matters
Beating the batter and adjusting its thickness. Vigorous beating incorporates air and distributes the baking soda, while the batter's consistency controls spreading and rising. Batter that is too thick makes dense cakes, and batter that is too thin spreads and will not hold its shape on the griddle.
“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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