Why it works: Cream and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Cream Pancakes
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
In a bowl, mix the egg yolks, heavy cream, and sugar until well combined.
Cook and serve
Heat a griddle over medium heat and add a little butter or oil.
Pour a thin layer of the batter onto the griddle and cook until golden brown on both sides.
Serve hot, sprinkled with grated sugar.
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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Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 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
- Egg yolks
- Add richness and help bind the batter together.
- Heavy cream
- Adds moisture and fat, giving the pancakes a tender texture.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the pancakes brown on the griddle.
The step that matters
Cooking the thin layer on the griddle. The griddle must be hot enough for the batter to brown quickly, but not so hot that the sugar in the batter scorches before the centre sets. A thin layer cooks evenly and firmly, so flip only once the edges look set and the underside is golden.
“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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