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Dessert

Velvet Rolls

Velvet rolls are yeast rolls made with flour, milk, butter, eggs, salt, and yeast.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Martin, Maria Ewing, Mrs., [from old catalog] comp · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 14 ingredients
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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 ↓

Velvet Rolls

12 dozen rolls

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the dough

  1. For 12 dozen rolls, use 1 quart flour, 2 tablespoons butter, yeast cake, 1 teaspoon salt, whites of 2 eggs, and a generous pint of milk.

  2. Boil the milk and add the butter to it.

  3. Let it cool, then add the sugar, salt, yeast, and the well-beaten whites of egg.

  4. Sift the flour into a bowl and pour the mixture upon it, stirring with a spoon until it is smooth.

  5. Cover closely and let rise in a warm place overnight.

Shape and bake

  1. In the morning, knead again, and let rise until twice its size.

  2. Make into rolls, place in buttered pans, and let rise again until twice their size.

  3. Bake for 2 minutes.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

899Calories
27 gProtein
39 gFat
108 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 6 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Lard1 tbsp (12.8g)115
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Salt1 tsp (6g)0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By Martin, Maria Ewing, Mrs., [from old catalog] comp. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  2. Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together124,287 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  3. Flour + milktop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together78,219 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  4. Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together106,462 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together118,967 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

Flour and butter 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

Flour
Forms the gluten structure that traps gas and gives the rolls their body.
Yeast
Produces carbon dioxide during rising, which makes the dough light and airy.
Milk
Adds moisture and richness, and its proteins help give a soft crumb.
Butter
Adds fat that tenderizes the crumb and gives a soft, velvety texture.
Eggs
Add protein for structure and richness to the dough.

The step that matters

Letting the dough rise fully. The rolls depend on yeast gas trapped in gluten. Rising until twice the size, both overnight and again after shaping, builds the air that makes the crumb light; underproofed dough stays 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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