Why it works: Milk and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 88,785 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Batter Bread
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare
Scald the cornmeal with boiling water.
Mix and bake
Add the beaten eggs, sweet milk, baking powder, and melted shortening.
Mix well and pour into a baking dish.
Bake at 350°F (175°C) for about 45 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.
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 + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cornmeal
- Forms the bulk of the bread and gives it its corn flavor and crumb.
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and add structure and richness as they set in the oven.
- Sweet milk
- Adds moisture and softness to the batter.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the batter so the cornbread rises and turns light.
- Shortening
- Adds fat for tenderness and a softer, more delicate crumb.
The step that matters
Scald the cornmeal with boiling water. Pouring boiling water over cornmeal softens and hydrates the starch and grains before baking, which helps the finished bread be moist rather than gritty. Mixing the batter too long after adding baking powder can release gas early and weaken the rise.
“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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