Why it works: Buttermilk and spread share more aroma than cooks usually use. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Rye Drop Cakes
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
Combine sour buttermilk, eggs, baking soda, and salt in a bowl.
Gradually add rye meal until the batter is thick but spreadable.
Bake
Drop spoonfuls of the batter into muffin rings.
Bake for twice the time of regular griddle cakes, or in cups for about 15 minutes.
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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Buttermilk + spreadtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together7 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Buttermilk + ryetop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together65 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Buttermilk + eggtop 25% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,986 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
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Egg + spreadtop 30% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together250 recipes
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Egg + ryetop 32% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together484 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Sour buttermilk
- Provides moisture and acidity that reacts with the baking soda to lift the cakes.
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and add structure to the cakes as they set.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the sour buttermilk's acid to produce gas that makes the cakes rise.
- Rye meal
- Forms the body of the batter and gives the cakes their hearty texture and flavor.
The step that matters
Gradually add the rye meal. Rye meal absorbs liquid and has little gluten to stretch, so adding it slowly lets you stop at a thick but spreadable batter. Too much meal makes the cakes dense and heavy.
“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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