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 ↓
Glutosac Bread
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the dough
In a mixing bowl, combine hot water (or milk) and butter; stir until melted.
Add salt and cold water to the mixture.
Dissolve the yeast in a little lukewarm water and add it to the mixture, ensuring it's not too warm.
Stir in the flour and knead thoroughly in the bowl.
Cover the bowl and set it in a warm place to rise until doubled in bulk.
Cut down the dough and knead again in the bowl, then cover and let rise a second time.
Shape and bake
Once light, turn the dough onto a well-floured board, shape it, and place it in a greased bread tin.
Cover and let it rise to the top of the pan.
Bake for 1.5 hours in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C).
Turn out onto a wire rack to cool; do not wrap in cloth.
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.
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 + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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
- Glutosac flour
- Provides the structure that holds the risen dough and sets during baking.
- Yeast
- Produces gas during rising, leavening the dough so it becomes light.
- Butter
- Adds fat that softens the crumb and gives a richer texture.
- Water
- Hydrates the flour so it can form a dough and lets the yeast activate.
The step that matters
Dissolving and cooling the yeast. Yeast is killed by excessive heat, so the liquid must be lukewarm rather than hot. Too warm a mixture can stop the dough from rising properly.
“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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