Why it works: Milk and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Griddle Cakes
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the batter
Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.
Whisk milk, egg, and melted butter together in another bowl.
Combine wet and dry ingredients until just mixed.
Cook
Heat a griddle over medium heat and grease lightly.
Pour batter onto the griddle and cook until bubbles form, then flip and cook until golden brown.
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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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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
- Flour
- Provides the starch and gluten structure that holds the pancake together.
- Egg
- Adds structure and richness, helping the batter set as it cooks.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas when heated, helping the pancakes rise and become light.
- Milk
- Hydrates the flour and gives the batter its liquid base and tenderness.
- Butter
- Adds fat for flavour and a tender crumb, and browns during cooking.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the surface brown evenly on the griddle.
The step that matters
Combine wet and dry ingredients until just mixed. Stirring too much develops gluten in the flour, which makes pancakes tough and chewy. Lumps are fine and should be left in.
“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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