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 ↓
Gluten Bread
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the dough
Mix the milk and warm water.
Soak the yeast cake in a little warm water.
Beat the eggs well and add them to the milk and water mixture.
Stir in gluten flour until a soft dough forms.
Work in the butter, kneading as you would ordinary bread dough.
Shape, rise and bake
Mould the dough and place it in pans to rise.
When the dough is light, bake in a hot oven at 400°F (200°C).
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
- Gluten flour
- Provides the gluten network that gives the dough its structure and chew.
- Yeast
- Produces carbon dioxide gas that makes the dough rise and become light.
- Eggs
- Add structure and richness, helping the loaf set and hold together when baked.
- Milk
- Adds moisture, softness and some browning from its milk sugars.
- Butter
- Adds fat that tenderises the crumb and gives a richer flavour.
The step that matters
Letting the dough rise until light. Yeast needs time to produce enough gas to lighten the dough. Baking before it has risen well gives a dense loaf, while over-proofing can cause it to collapse.
“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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