Why it works: Wheat and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,418 recipes. Both carry (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal, which smells cucumber, melon. The science ↓
Graham Biscuit
Ingredients
Directions
Make the dough
Sift together one pint graham flour, one-half pint white wheat flour, one teaspoonful salt, one teaspoonful sugar, and two teaspoonfuls baking powder.
Mix thoroughly, adding two tablespoonfuls lard and one pint sweet milk.
If this mixture is too stiff, use water to make into a soft dough.
Shape and bake
Turn out upon a floured board, pat down instead of roll, handling as little as possible.
Cut into biscuits and bake in a steady oven.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 5 of 6 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 5 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Milk | 1 cup (244ml) whole | 149 |
| Lard | 1 tbsp (12.8g) | 115 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
| Wheat | not in our table | 0 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
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. See the original page.
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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Wheat + milktop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,418 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).
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Flour + wheattop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,373 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Sugar + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Flour and milk barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 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
- Graham flour
- Provides the main body and a nutty, whole-grain flavour to the biscuits.
- White wheat flour
- Adds gluten for a lighter, more tender crumb than graham flour alone.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the dough, helping the biscuits rise in the oven.
- Lard
- Fat that shortens the dough, keeping the biscuits tender and flaky.
- Sweet milk
- Hydrates the flour and forms the dough, adding moisture and richness.
The step that matters
Handling the dough lightly. Working the dough develops gluten, which toughens biscuits. Patting rather than rolling and handling as little as possible keeps them tender and lets them rise well.
“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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