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Dessert

Cornmeal Griddle Cakes

Cornmeal griddle cakes are a quick batter of cornmeal, flour, milk, and molasses baked on a greased griddle.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Milk and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 78,219 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Cornmeal Griddle Cakes

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Scald cornmeal in a bowl with boiling water.

  2. Add milk, melted shortening, and molasses or corn syrup when cool.

  3. Sift together flour, salt, and baking powder, then mix into the cornmeal mixture.

  4. Mix well and bake on a hot greased griddle until brown.

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. Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together78,219 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  2. Molasses + flourtop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,429 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  3. Milk + molassestop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together7,243 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

Milk and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 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
Forms the main body of the pancake and gives its grainy texture and flavor.
Flour
Adds gluten-based structure so the pancakes hold together with the cornmeal.
Baking powder
Releases gas when heated, helping the pancakes rise and become light.
Milk
Adds moisture and richness, and helps the batter spread and brown.
Molasses or corn syrup
Adds sweetness and depth, and helps the surface brown on the griddle.

The step that matters

Let the cornmeal scald and cool before adding milk. Boiling water softens and swells the cornmeal starch so it absorbs liquid well. Adding cold milk or fat too early can chill the mixture and slow this, so letting it cool only to a warm state keeps the batter smooth and evenly textured.

“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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