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Pan Cakes

A batter of flour, rye meal, molasses, and spices fried into golden brown cakes.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Flour and rye match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,320 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Pan Cakes

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the batter

  1. In a large bowl, mix the flour, rye meal, molasses, cream of tartar, baking soda, salt, and allspice.

  2. In a separate bowl, beat the egg and then add the milk.

  3. Combine the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients and mix until smooth.

Fry

  1. Heat oil in a deep pan over medium heat.

  2. Drop spoonfuls of the batter into the hot oil and fry until golden brown on both sides.

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. Flour + ryetop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,320 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  2. Rye + milktop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together918 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).

  3. Flour + allspicetop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,302 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  4. Rye + allspicetop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together32 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  5. Molasses + allspicetop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,508 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

All-purpose flour
Provides the main structure that holds the pancake together as it sets.
Rye meal
Adds a earthy flavor and a denser, more tender crumb than wheat flour alone.
Molasses
Adds sweetness, moisture, and a deep color that helps the pancakes brown.
Cream of tartar
Acidic ingredient that reacts with baking soda to produce gas for lift.
Baking soda
Reacts with the acidic cream of tartar and molasses to release carbon dioxide, helping the pancakes rise.
Egg
Binds the batter and adds richness and structure as it sets.

The step that matters

Frying the batter in hot oil. If the oil is not hot enough, the batter absorbs oil and turns greasy, while oil that is too hot browns the outside before the inside cooks through. Medium heat lets the pancakes set and brown evenly.

Swap the allspice

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, rye, molasses, cream, egg, milk):

  1. Nutmegfits better
  2. Cinnamonfits better
  3. Gingerfits about as well
  4. Allspicethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against flour, rye, molasses, cream, egg, milk. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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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