Why it works: Flour and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 78,219 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the dough
Rub one tablespoon of lard into two quarts of flour.
Moisten one cake of dry yeast.
Scald one pint of milk, and when cool but not cold, add to the flour.
Beat well, adding one teaspoon of salt, one-half cup of sugar, and the softened yeast.
Let the dough rise.
Fill and shape
At the second kneading, roll the dough thin, spread with melted butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, currants, and finely shaved citron.
Roll and cut the dough into pieces one inch thick.
Rise and bake
Stand the pieces on end, allow to rise, and bake.
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 |
| Cake | 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.
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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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
-
Milk + sugartop 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
- Flour
- Forms the structure that holds the dough and rolls together as it bakes.
- Yeast
- Produces gas that makes the dough rise and become light and airy.
- Milk
- Adds moisture and richness, softening the dough and helping it brown.
- Lard
- Adds fat that tenderises the crumb and keeps the rolls soft.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the dough and feeds the yeast while it rises, aiding browning.
- Butter (in the method)
- Adds fat and flavour to the filling and helps the rolls brown.
The step that matters
Let the dough rise. The yeast needs time and warmth to produce gas, and rising fully before shaping gives the rolls their light, open texture. Under-proofed dough bakes dense.
“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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