Why it works: Sugar and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 77,875 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Soda Bread
2 loavesIngredients
Directions
Prepare the dough
Reduce the tartaric acid and salt to a fine powder and mix them with the flour.
Dissolve the soda in the milk, pouring it several times from one basin to another before adding it to the flour.
Work the mixture quickly into a light dough.
Divide the dough into two loaves.
Bake
Place the loaves in a well-heated oven immediately and bake for an hour.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 3 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Milk | 1 cup (244ml) whole | 149 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Salt | 1 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.
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.
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Sugar + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Sugar and milk barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 77,875 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
- Carbonate of soda
- Reacts with the acid to release carbon dioxide, which lifts the loaf without yeast.
- Tartaric acid
- Reacts with the soda to produce the gas that makes the bread rise.
- Cold milk
- Dissolves the soda and moistens the flour to form a soft dough.
The step that matters
Work the dough quickly. The soda and acid start releasing gas as soon as they meet liquid, so a slow mix loses lift. Shape it fast and get it into the oven immediately to trap the gas while it is still expanding.
“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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