Why it works: Flour and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 78,219 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Corn Cake
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Make the batter
Sift the flour, sugar, and baking powder into the cornmeal.
Beat the egg until light, then add it to the milk.
Stir the egg and milk mixture quickly into the cornmeal mixture.
Bake
Pour the batter into a baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes, or until golden brown.
For muffins, bake for 20 minutes.
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 + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 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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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Milk + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Flour and milk barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 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
- Cornmeal
- Forms the coarse, sturdy body of the cake and gives it its corn flavor.
- All-purpose flour
- Provides gluten structure that holds the cake together while it bakes.
- Milk
- Adds moisture and hydrates the dry ingredients into a batter.
- Large egg
- Binds the batter and adds structure and richness as it sets.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas during baking, helping the cake rise and become light.
- Granulated sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the crust brown.
The step that matters
Stir the egg and milk mixture quickly into the cornmeal mixture. Once the liquid meets the flour, gluten begins to form and baking powder starts releasing gas. Overmixing toughens the cake and wastes lift, so stir just until combined.
“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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