Why it works: Sugar and syrup match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,842 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Sugar Syrup for Batter Cakes and Waffles
Ingredients
Directions
Combine sugar and water in a saucepan and bring to a hard boil for 4 minutes after it starts boiling.
Remove from heat and stir in corn syrup and salt until well combined.
Allow the syrup to cool, then add maple flavoring to taste, if desired.
For larger batches, boil for 5 minutes if doubled or 6 minutes if tripled.
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.
-
Sugar + syruptop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,842 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
-
Corn + syruptop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,678 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
-
Sugar + corntop 21% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together7,168 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
- Granulated sugar
- Provides sweetness and the body of the syrup.
- White corn syrup
- Inhibits sugar crystallization, keeping the syrup smooth and pourable.
The step that matters
Boiling time for the sugar and water. Boiling longer evaporates more water, so the syrup becomes thicker once cooled. Larger batches need longer boiling because more liquid must evaporate before the same concentration is reached.
“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.
You might also like
Corn Cake90 recipes
Corn Starch Cake89 recipes
Corn Cakes22 recipes
Green Corn Pudding14 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.