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Dessert

Buttermilk Waffles

A batter of buttermilk, eggs, lard, baking soda, and flour is cooked in a waffle iron.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Buttermilk and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,721 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Buttermilk Waffles

Ingredients

Directions

Make the batter

  1. In a bowl, combine buttermilk, eggs, lard, and baking soda.

  2. Add flour gradually until you achieve a thick batter.

Bake

  1. Preheat your waffle iron and fill it with the batter.

  2. Bake according to your waffle iron's instructions.

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 + flourtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,721 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  2. Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together106,462 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  3. Buttermilk + eggtop 25% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together2,986 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).

Egg and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 106,462 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

Buttermilk
Adds moisture and acidity that reacts with baking soda to help the waffles rise.
Eggs
Provide structure and richness, binding the batter as it sets in the iron.
Lard
Adds fat for tenderness and helps keep the waffles from sticking and crisping well.
Baking soda
Reacts with the buttermilk's acidity to produce gas that lifts the batter.
Flour
Forms the gluten and starch network that gives the waffles their body and structure.

The step that matters

Adding the flour gradually. Flour should be added slowly so the batter reaches a thick, even consistency without lumps. Overmixing once gluten forms can make waffles tough, so stop mixing once the batter is smooth and thick.

“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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