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 ↓
French Rolls
Ingredients
Directions
Make the dough
Mix three cups of sweet milk, one cup of butter and lard in equal proportions, one-half cup of good yeast or half a cake of compressed yeast, and a teaspoonful of salt.
Add flour enough to make a stiff dough.
Let it rise overnight.
In the morning, add two well-beaten eggs.
Knead thoroughly and let it rise again.
Shape and bake
With the hands, make the dough into balls as large as an egg.
Roll between the hands to make long rolls about three inches long.
Place close together in even rows on well-buttered pans.
Cover and let them rise again.
Bake in a quick oven to a delicate brown.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 5 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Milk | 1 cup (244ml) whole | 149 |
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| 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.
-
Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
-
Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Sweet milk
- Provides liquid that hydrates the flour and helps form the dough.
- Butter
- Adds fat that tenderises the crumb and enriches flavour.
- Yeast
- Produces gas as it ferments, making the dough rise and become light.
- Eggs
- Add structure and richness to the dough and help it hold its shape.
The step that matters
Knead thoroughly and let it rise again. Thorough kneading develops gluten so the dough traps the gas from the yeast. Under-kneaded dough rises poorly and bakes up 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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