Why it works: Flour and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 78,219 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Jennie's Corn Bread
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare the batter
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Beat the egg until light, then add sugar and salt; beat again.
Add a portion of the milk, then the melted lard, followed by the cornmeal.
Mix in more milk, then the flour, and the remaining milk.
Finally, add the baking powder and baking soda.
Bake
Pour the batter into a greased baking dish and bake for 30 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.
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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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Milk + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Flour and milk barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 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
- Egg
- Binds the batter and adds structure as it sets in the oven.
- All-purpose flour
- Provides gluten network that gives the cornbread its structure and crumb.
- Cornmeal
- Gives the cornbread its coarse texture and characteristic corn flavor.
- Milk
- Hydrates the dry ingredients and adds moisture and tenderness.
- Lard
- Adds fat for tenderness and a rich, moist crumb.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the batter to make the cornbread rise.
The step that matters
Adding the baking powder and baking soda last. Leavening agents start producing gas as soon as they contact moisture and acid, so adding them at the end and baking promptly keeps the gas trapped for good rise rather than letting it escape before the batter sets.
“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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