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Parker House Rolls

Rolls made from flour, butter, lard, milk, yeast, sugar, and eggs, baked in a flat tin or pie plate.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Chippewa Falls, Wis. Episcopal church. Ladies aid society. [from old catalog] · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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Parker House Rolls

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 ↓

Parker House Rolls

Ingredients

Directions

Make the sponge

  1. Rub one-half tablespoonful of butter and the same of lard into two quarts of sifted flour.

  2. Make a hole or well in the middle of the flour.

  3. Pour in one pint of cold boiled milk, one-half cupful of yeast, one-fourth cupful of sugar, and a little salt.

  4. Do not stir but let it stand overnight.

Shape and bake

  1. Next morning, stir up, knead, and let rise until near tea-time.

  2. Roll out and cut with a biscuit cutter.

  3. Put a little melted butter on one-half, and lap nearly over the other half.

  4. Place all out three-fourths of an inch apart in the pan, and bake quickly.

Make the second batch

  1. Rub three teacupfuls of flour, butter the size of an egg, one and one-half teacupfuls of sugar, and two teaspoonfuls of cream of tartar together.

  2. Add one teacupful of sweet milk, one teaspoonful of soda, and two eggs.

  3. Bake in a flat tin or pie plate.

  4. To be eaten warm for tea.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

884Calories
28 gProtein
31 gFat
121 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 6 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Cream1 tbsp (15ml) heavy51
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49

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

By Chippewa Falls, Wis. Episcopal church. Ladies aid society. [from old catalog]. 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.

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.

  1. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

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

  2. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  3. Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

  4. Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together124,287 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

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

Flour
Forms the gluten structure that holds the risen dough and its shape.
Yeast
Produces gas during the long rise, leavening the dough so it becomes light.
Milk
Supplies moisture and softness, and its proteins and sugars add to browning.
Sugar
Feeds the yeast early on and adds sweetness and browning to the crust.
Eggs
Add richness and structure to the second batch, helping it hold together.
Cream of tartar
Acidifies the batter so it reacts with soda to produce rising gas.

The step that matters

Letting the sponge stand overnight without stirring. Yeast needs time to ferment the flour and sugar slowly, building flavour and gas. Stirring too early knocks out the bubbles that form, so the rise can be weaker.

“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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