Why it works: Milk and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 29,399 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
To Partly Peptonise Milk for Infants
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Combine the milk, cold water, and peptonising powder in a small clean jug.
Place the jug in a basin of water that is as hot as your hand can bear.
Let it stand for 20 minutes, shaking occasionally.
Finish and serve
Remove from water, sweeten if desired, and add fresh cream.
Serve to the child.
If not ready to take, boil the milk or chill it in ice.
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 + creamtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together29,399 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Peptonising powder
- Contains enzymes that partly break down milk proteins, making the milk easier to digest.
- Fresh cow's milk
- Forms the base of the drink and supplies the proteins that the powder partly breaks down.
- Fresh cream
- Adds richness and fat, giving a softer, smoother mouthfeel.
The step that matters
Let it stand for 20 minutes in warm water. The enzymes act slowly and depend on warmth. Water that is too hot can destroy them, while water that is too cool slows the breakdown, so the milk may not be partly digested as intended.
“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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