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 ↓
To Make French Bread
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Make the dough
Heat the milk and water; in winter, make it scalding hot, and in summer, just warmer than milk.
Stir the salt and ale yeast into the milk and water mixture.
Add the butter and mix until dissolved.
Beat the eggs in a bowl and stir them into the mixture.
Gradually mix in the flour until the dough reaches the desired stiffness; it should be stiffer in winter and slacker in summer.
Cover the dough with a cloth and let it rise while the oven heats to 400°F (200°C).
Bake and finish
Shape the dough into bricks or loaves and place them in the oven.
After 15 minutes, turn the loaves to the other side and bake for another 15 minutes.
Once done, leave the loaves on the board to cool without covering them.
Once cool, trim the edges with a knife for a spongy appearance.
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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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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
- Ale yeast
- Ferments the dough, producing gas that makes the loaves rise.
- All-purpose flour
- Forms the gluten network that gives the bread its structure and chew.
- Eggs
- Add protein and richness, helping set the crumb and add tenderness.
- Butter
- Adds fat, softening the crumb and giving a richer flavour.
- Milk
- Adds milk solids for softness and browning in the crust.
The step that matters
Gradually mixing in the flour. Flour absorbs water as it is added, so the dough's stiffness changes quickly. Adding it slowly lets you stop at the right consistency, stiffer in winter and slacker in summer, which controls how the loaves rise and hold their shape.
“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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