Why it works: Egg and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 118,967 recipes. Both carry decanal, which smells soap, orange peel. The science ↓
Oatmeal Cakes
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
In a bowl, mix the oatmeal, beaten eggs, sugar, and baking powder until well combined.
Grease a pan with butter and pour the mixture into it.
Bake and serve
Bake in the hot oven until the cakes are browned.
Remove from the oven and let cool in the pan.
Return to the oven briefly to heat before serving.
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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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
- Eggs
- Bind the oatmeal and set the cakes into a firm, sliceable structure as they bake.
- Oatmeal
- Forms the main body of the cakes, giving them a hearty, chewy texture.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the surface brown in the oven.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas during baking, lifting the mixture so the cakes are lighter.
The step that matters
Bake until browned. Baking long enough lets the egg set and the surface brown, which gives structure and flavor. Pulling the cakes too early can leave them soft and wet in the centre.
“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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