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
Measure 2 lbs of flour.
Reduce the tartaric acid and salt to a fine powder and mix them well with the flour.
Add 1 teaspoon of tartaric acid, 1 teaspoon of salt, and 1 teaspoon of carbonate of soda to the flour.
Dissolve the soda in the milk.
Add 2 breakfast-cupfuls of cold milk to the mixture.
Pour the dissolved soda mixture several times from one basin to another before adding it to the flour.
Mix and bake
Work the mixture quickly into a light dough.
Divide the dough into two loaves.
Place the loaves in a well-heated oven immediately.
Bake for one 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.
-
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
- Flour (in the method)
- Forms the structure of the dough once mixed with liquid.
- Carbonate of soda
- Reacts with the acid to release carbon dioxide, which lightens the loaves.
- Tartaric acid
- Reacts with the soda to produce gas for rising and adds a slight tang.
- Cold milk
- Provides moisture to hydrate the flour and dissolve the soda.
The step that matters
Work the mixture quickly into a light dough. Soda and acid begin releasing gas as soon as they are wet, so delay lets the rising power escape. Handling briefly keeps the loaves light and tender.
“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.
More soda bread recipes
You might also like
Cornbread345 recipes
Bread Pudding336 recipes
Milk Bread Rolls242 recipes
Potato Bread124 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.