Why it works: Flour and buttermilk 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 ↓
Oat Cakes
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
Make the dough
In a bowl, cream together the butter and lard with the sugar.
Add the salt to the mixture.
Dissolve the baking soda in the buttermilk and add it to the mixture.
Stir in the rolled oats, then gradually mix in the flour.
Bake
Drop spoonfuls of the mixture onto a baking sheet and bake 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.
-
Flour + buttermilktop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,721 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
-
Sugar + buttermilktop 9% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,973 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
-
Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Oats + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,939 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
-
Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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
- Butter and lard
- Provides fat that carries flavor and gives the oatcakes a tender, crisp texture.
- All-purpose flour
- Gives the dough structure so the spoonfuls hold their shape while baking.
- Rolled oats
- Supply the hearty, chewy body and nutty flavor that define the oatcake.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the surface brown as the oatcakes bake.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the buttermilk's acidity to produce gas that lifts and lightens the cookies.
- Buttermilk
- Its acidity activates the baking soda and adds moisture and tang to the dough.
The step that matters
Dissolving the baking soda in the buttermilk. Baking soda needs an acid to react and release carbon dioxide. Dissolving it fully in the buttermilk before mixing spreads the reaction evenly, so the oatcakes rise uniformly instead of leaving bitter pockets or flat spots.
“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 oatcakes recipes
You might also like
Buttermilk Pie12 recipes
White Cake431 recipes
Pound Cake373 recipes
Orange Bundt Cake349 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.