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 ↓
Brioches
Ingredients
Directions
Measure 3 cups of flour and set aside ¾ cup for the starter. Make a well in the flour and add ⅓ cup warm water and 2 teaspoons yeast. Mix gently with your fingers.
Gradually incorporate the reserved flour until a soft dough forms. Knead for a few minutes until smooth.
Shape the dough into a ball, place it in a greased bowl, and cover. Let it rise in a warm place until doubled in size.
In a separate bowl, combine the remaining flour, 2 teaspoons sugar, 1 teaspoon salt, and ¼ cup milk. Mix without touching the flour.
Add 15 small eggs (or 13 large) one at a time, checking for freshness, and 1 cup softened butter. Mix until combined.
Knead the dough, incorporating the butter and eggs until well blended. Repeat kneading three times in winter or twice in warmer weather.
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.
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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
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