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Dessert

Graham or Whole Wheat Gems

A quick biscuit made with buttermilk, graham or whole wheat flour, eggs, butter, baking soda, and salt.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Buttermilk and sugar match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,973 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Graham or Whole Wheat Gems

Oven, in the book's wordsA quick oven

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

  1. In a bowl, combine buttermilk, salt, and sugar.

  2. Beat in 1 or 2 eggs and melted butter.

  3. Add enough graham or whole wheat flour to create a thick mixture.

  4. Dissolve baking soda in a little water and mix it in.

  5. Let the mixture sit for a few minutes.

Bake

  1. Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C) and bake.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Buttermilk + sugartop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,973 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  2. Butter + wheattop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,002 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  3. Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together118,967 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  4. Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together98,233 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  5. Egg + wheattop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,225 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

Buttermilk
Provides acidity that reacts with the baking soda to help the gems rise.
Eggs
Bind the batter and add structure as the gems set in the oven.
Graham or whole wheat flour
Forms the thick batter body and gives the gems their wholesome, nutty texture.
Baking soda
Reacts with the buttermilk's acid to produce gas that lifts the batter.
Melted butter
Adds fat for tenderness and a richer flavor in the crumb.

The step that matters

Dissolving the baking soda before mixing it in. Baking soda needs an acid to react, and dissolving it in water spreads it evenly through the batter so it reacts consistently. Mixing it in promptly keeps the gas-producing reaction working for a good rise in the oven.

“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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