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 ↓
Vienna Rolls
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the dough
In a bowl, mix and sift the flour and baking powder together.
Add sweet milk gradually to form a stiff dough.
Stir in salt and half of the flour with a spoon.
In another bowl, cream the softened butter or lard.
Stir the creamed butter into the batter along with the remaining flour to form the dough.
Turn the dough onto a floured surface and knead until smooth.
Shape and bake
Roll out the dough to ½ inch thick and cut with a large round cutter.
Fold each round over to make a half round, wetting the edges to stick.
Place on buttered pans, ensuring they do not touch.
Brush the tops with milk for a glossy finish.
Bake in a hot oven at 400°F (200°C) for about 20 minutes.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour and butter 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 main structure of the dough once mixed with liquid.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the dough, helping the rolls rise in the oven.
- Sweet milk
- Hydrates the flour to form the dough and adds moisture to the rolls.
- Butter or lard
- Adds fat that tenderizes the crumb and contributes to flavor.
The step that matters
Knead until smooth. Kneading develops gluten so the dough holds its shape and rises evenly. Under-kneaded dough can crack or spread when shaped and baked.
“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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