Why it works: Butter and milk 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 ↓
Cream of Corn Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the corn stock
Score each row of grains on six ears of corn; then, with the back of a knife, press out carefully, and throw the cobs into a kettle.
Cover with a quart of water, bring to a boiling point, and strain.
Add to this the scraped corn.
Finish the soup
Rub together two tablespoons of butter and one tablespoon of flour; stir into the mixture, and bring to a boiling point.
Add one pint of hot milk, one rounding teaspoon of salt, and one spoon of pepper.
If canned corn is used, combine one can of corn with one quart of milk, one tablespoon of flour, and two tablespoons of butter, with the prescribed seasoning.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 6 of 8 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 6 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Milk | 1 cup (244ml) whole | 149 |
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Corn | 1/2 cup kernels (82g) | 77 |
| Black Pepper | 1 tsp ground (2.3g) | 6 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
| Water | not in our table | 0 |
| Soup | 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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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Milk + corntop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,955 recipes
Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).
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Corn + peppertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,324 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + corntop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,165 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Butter and flour 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
- Corn
- Provides the main flavour and body of the soup.
- Butter
- Adds richness and a smooth mouthfeel to the soup.
- Flour
- Thickens the soup, giving it a creamy body.
- Milk
- Adds creaminess and mild sweetness, softening the soup's texture.
The step that matters
Stirring in the butter and flour mixture. Rubbing butter and flour together before stirring them in helps prevent lumps, since the flour's starch then disperses evenly as the soup heats and thickens.
“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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