Why it works: Butter and milk 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 ↓
S a Llie Lunn Breakfast Bread
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
Make the batter
In a bowl, beat together the butter, sugar, eggs, and salt.
Dissolve the baking soda in the sweet milk and add the milk mixture to the mixture.
Sift in the cream of tartar and flour and mix until combined.
Bake
Pour the batter into shallow pans.
Bake for 20 minutes.
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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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Butter + flourtop 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).
Butter and flour 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
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and add structure and richness as they set in the oven.
- Flour
- Forms the gluten network that gives the bread its structure and crumb.
- Butter
- Adds fat for tenderness and flavor, softening the crumb.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic cream of tartar to produce gas that lifts the batter.
- Cream of tartar
- Acts as an acid that reacts with the baking soda to help the bread rise.
- Sweet milk
- Supplies liquid that hydrates the flour and dissolves the leavening.
The step that matters
Dissolve the baking soda in the sweet milk. Baking soda must be fully dissolved so it reacts evenly with the acid in the batter. Undissolved pockets can cause bitter spots and uneven rising.
“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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