Why it works: Flour and nutmeg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 18,623 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Griddle Cakes
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Preheat a greased griddle over medium heat.
In a bowl, mix flour, sugar, salt, and nutmeg.
Cook
Pour batter onto the griddle to form large cakes.
Cook until golden brown on both sides.
Butter each cake as you remove it from the griddle.
Keep warm and serve
Stack the cakes in the oven to keep warm.
Serve in wedges without syrup.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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 + nutmegtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,623 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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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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Nutmeg + buttertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together24,377 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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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
- All-purpose flour
- Provides the structure that sets as the cakes cook through.
- Granulated sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the cakes brown golden on the griddle.
- Ground nutmeg
- Adds a warm, aromatic spice flavour to the cakes.
- Butter
- Greases the griddle and adds richness and browning to each cake.
The step that matters
Cook until golden brown on both sides. Sugar and starches brown through the Maillard reaction, which needs steady medium heat. If the griddle is too hot, the outside darkens and burns before the centre sets, leaving the cake raw inside.
Swap the nutmeg
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, sugar, butter):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Jalapenofits better
- Nutmegthe original
- Capersfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, sugar, butter. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“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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