Why it works: Buttermilk and sugar match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,973 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Quick Corn Bread
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
Make and bake
In a bowl, combine cornmeal, buttermilk, egg, baking soda, salt, and sugar if using.
Beat the mixture until well combined.
Pour the batter into a dripping pan.
Bake for about 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.
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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Buttermilk + sugartop 9% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,973 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Buttermilk + eggtop 25% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,986 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cornmeal
- Provides the main body and grainy texture of the bread.
- Buttermilk
- Adds moisture and acidity that tenderizes the crumb and reacts with the baking soda.
- Egg
- Binds the batter and helps give the bread structure as it sets.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic buttermilk to produce gas that helps the bread rise.
The step that matters
Bake until golden brown. Baking soda starts reacting as soon as it meets the buttermilk, so the batter should go into the oven promptly after mixing. Baking until golden brown ensures the starch and proteins have set and the crust has browned for flavor.
“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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