Why it works: Butter and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Water Bread
Ingredients
Directions
Mix the dough
Put butter, lard, sugar, and salt in a bread raiser or large bowl without a lip.
Pour boiling water over the mixture.
When the water is lukewarm, add the dissolved yeast cake and five cups of flour.
Stir until thoroughly mixed, using a knife or mixing spoon.
Add the remaining flour, mix, and turn the dough onto a floured board, leaving a clean bowl.
Knead until the mixture is smooth, elastic to touch, and bubbles may be seen under the surface.
Rise and shape
Return the dough to the bowl, cover with a clean cloth and a board or tin cover, and let rise overnight at 65°F.
In the morning, cut down the dough by cutting through and turning it over several times with a case knife, checking fermentation for a short time.
If the dough is not convenient to shape into loaves or biscuits after the first cutting, raise it again and recut down.
Toss the dough onto a slightly floured board, knead, shape into loaves or biscuits, and place them in greased pans, filling the pans nearly half full.
Bake
Cover, let rise again until the dough doubles in bulk, and bake in a hot oven.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 5 of 7 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 5 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Lard | 1 tbsp (12.8g) | 115 |
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
| Water | not in our table | 0 |
| Cake | 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.
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 + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
-
Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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 network that gives the bread its structure and chewy crumb.
- Yeast cake
- Ferments the dough, producing gas that makes it rise and become airy.
- Butter
- Adds fat that softens the crumb and gives a richer flavor.
- Lard
- Adds fat that tenderizes the crumb and keeps it soft.
- Sugar
- Feeds the yeast and adds a little sweetness and browning in the crust.
The step that matters
Kneading until smooth and elastic. Kneading develops the gluten network that traps the gas from fermentation. Under-kneaded dough rises poorly and bakes up dense, while well-developed dough holds its shape and volume.
“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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