Why it works: Milk and sugar 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 ↓
Light Buns of Different Kinds
Ingredients
Directions
Make the sponge
Dilute an ounce of sweet German yeast or a large tablespoonful of solid well-washed English yeast with a pint of warm new milk.
Mix immediately with as much flour as it will convert into a rather thick batter.
Throw a double cloth over the pan and place it where the warmth of the fire will search, without heating it.
Make the dough
When the mixture is well risen and bubbles appear on the top, add a little salt, some pounded sugar, and as much flour as will form it into a light dough.
Leave the dough to rise again.
Shape and bake
Beat up with a strong wooden spoon and put into cups or tin pans slightly buttered, to be baked.
Roll the dough into balls, place on flat tins some inches apart until they have spread to the proper shape.
Strew a few currants on the tops before baking.
Wash the tops with milk and sift a little sugar over them.
Send the buns to a quick oven and bake until the entire surface is well browned.
Optional variations
Add currants, carraways, nutmeg, or mixed spices at discretion.
To render them richer and firmer, diminish the proportion of milk and crumble two or more ounces of butter into the flour added after the dough has risen.
For Exeter Buns, use Devonshire cream instead of milk, dilute with a quarter pint or more warm water if thick, let rise, then proceed by the receipt above.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 4 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| 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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Milk + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Milk and sugar 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
- Yeast
- Ferments the milk mixture, producing gas that makes the buns rise and become light.
- Flour (in the method)
- Forms the batter and dough structure that holds the gas and sets as the buns bake.
- Milk
- Moistens the dough and softens the crumb, and its sugars help the tops brown.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the buns and helps the surface brown in the oven.
- Butter (in the method)
- Adds richness and fat, giving a softer, more tender crumb when used.
The step that matters
Bake in a quick oven until well browned. A hot oven sets the outside quickly while the dough is still rising, and browning comes from sugars and proteins reacting at high heat. A cool oven leaves buns pale, dense, and dry.
“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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