Why it works: Butter and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and 81,283 recipes mention both. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Parker House Rolls
Ingredients
Directions
Make the dough
Combine one quart sifted flour, one-half cup yeast, two tablespoons of sugar, salt, two tablespoons butter, and one tablespoon of lard.
Pour one pint of boiling milk over the ingredients, except yeast, and add that when lukewarm.
Mix early in the morning.
Knead at noon, adding sufficient flour to make the dough as stiff as a biscuit.
When the dough is light, knead it into rolls.
Shape and bake
Roll out the dough rather thin.
Cut the dough with a biscuit cutter and then roll the pieces oblong.
Spread a little butter on one end of each roll and fold it over.
Let the rolls rise on the pans before baking.
Bake for ten or fifteen 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. See the original page.
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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Flour and butter share little aroma chemistry, yet 124,287 recipes mention both: they likely 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
- Flour
- Forms the gluten structure that traps gas and gives the rolls their body.
- Yeast
- Ferments the dough, producing gas that makes the rolls rise and turn light.
- Butter
- Adds fat that softens the crumb and gives a rich flavor.
- Milk
- Adds moisture and proteins that soften the crumb and aid browning.
- Sugar
- Feeds the yeast and adds sweetness and browning in the crust.
The step that matters
Let the rolls rise on the pans before baking. Yeast needs time to produce gas; baking before the dough has risen fully leaves dense rolls, while the dough must be light first to hold its shape and volume.
“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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