Why it works: Wheat and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,418 recipes. Both carry (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal, which smells cucumber, melon. The science ↓
Corn Cakes
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the batter
In a bowl, combine cornmeal, wheat flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt.
Add the eggs and enough milk to create a thin batter.
Stir in the melted butter last.
Cook
Cook on a hot griddle or in a frying pan until golden brown on both sides.
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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Wheat + milktop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,418 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).
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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Wheat + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,373 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Wheat + buttertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,002 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Flour and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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
- Provides the main body and coarse, sturdy texture of the cakes.
- Wheat flour
- Adds structure that helps hold the cakes together while cooking.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the batter so the cakes rise and turn light.
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and add structure as they set during cooking.
- Melted butter
- Adds fat for richness, tenderness, and browning on the griddle.
The step that matters
Cook until golden brown on both sides. A griddle that is too cool lets the cakes absorb grease and cook slowly, while one that is too hot browns the outside before the centre sets. Cooking on a hot surface until golden on both sides ensures the batter sets fully through.
“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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