Why it works: Butter and milk 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 Lunn
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure. The book gives no cooking times; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Make the batter
In a large bowl, combine corn meal, flour, sugar, and salt.
In another bowl, beat the eggs and mix in melted butter and milk.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix well.
Finally, stir in baking soda and cream of tartar until fully combined.
Bake
Pour the batter into a greased baking dish and bake for 30-40 minutes or until golden brown.
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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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Corn + milktop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,955 recipes
Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and add structure as they set in the oven.
- Flour
- Provides the main structure of the cake as its starches set during baking.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acid in the cream of tartar to produce gas that makes the cake rise.
- Cream of tartar
- Acidic partner to baking soda, helping produce gas for lift and a tender crumb.
- Butter
- Adds fat for moisture and a tender texture, and helps the crust brown.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cake and helps it brown as it bakes.
The step that matters
Stir in baking soda and cream of tartar last. Baking soda and cream of tartar release gas once they are wet and react. Mixing them in gently and just until combined keeps the gas in the batter, so the cake rises well. Overmixing knocks out gas and toughens the crumb.
“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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