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Dessert

Sweet Milk Griddle Cakes

A sweet batter of flour, milk, molasses, and sugar cooked on a greased griddle.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Molasses and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,225 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Sweet Milk Griddle Cakes

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the batter

  1. Mix and sift the dry ingredients together.

  2. Beat the egg.

  3. Add the milk and molasses.

  4. Pour the wet mixture slowly onto the dry ingredients.

  5. Beat the batter well.

  6. Add the melted shortening.

  7. Mix until combined.

Cook and serve

  1. Cook immediately on a hot, well-greased griddle.

  2. Serve with maple syrup, caramel, or brown sugar syrup.

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. Molasses + sugartop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,225 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  2. Flour + milktop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together78,219 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  3. Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together92,116 recipes

    Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).

  4. Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together106,462 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Flour + molassestop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,429 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

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

Flour
Provides the main structure that holds the griddle cakes together as they set.
Magic baking powder
Releases gas in the batter, making the cakes rise and turn light and fluffy.
Egg
Binds the batter and helps give the cakes structure and a tender crumb.
Shortening
Adds fat that tenderizes the cakes and keeps the texture soft.
Milk
Supplies the liquid that hydrates the flour and forms the batter.
Molasses
Adds sweetness, moisture and a deep flavor with some browning in the pan.

The step that matters

Cook immediately on a hot, well-greased griddle. Baking powder starts releasing gas as soon as it meets liquid, so batter left to stand loses lift. A hot, greased griddle sets the outside quickly, helping the cakes rise and preventing sticking.

“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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