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 ↓
Bread
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
Combine the butter, lard, salt, and sugar with the milk and water; let it cool until lukewarm.
Add the yeast cake mixed with lukewarm water and 5 cups of flour.
Stir until smooth.
Gradually add enough flour to form a dough that is stiff enough to knead.
Turn the dough onto a floured surface.
Knead until smooth and elastic.
Return the dough to a bowl. Cover it.
Let it rise in a warm place until doubled in size.
Knead the dough again.
Shape and bake
Shape it into loaves.
Place in greased pans.
Cover the loaves.
Let them rise until doubled in size.
Bake in a hot oven at 400°F (200°C) for 50 to 60 minutes until the crust is brown on all sides.
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).
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Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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
- Flour
- Builds the gluten network that gives the bread its structure and chew.
- Yeast cake
- Ferments the sugars in the dough, producing gas that makes the loaves rise.
- Milk
- Adds richness and softness to the crumb and helps the browned crust color.
- Lard
- Tenderizes the crumb and adds fat for a softer texture.
- Butter
- Adds fat for flavor and a tender, soft crumb.
- Sugar
- Feeds the yeast and contributes to browning of the crust.
The step that matters
Kneading to a smooth, elastic dough. Kneading aligns and develops gluten strands, which trap the gas from the yeast. Under-kneaded dough rises poorly and bakes up dense.
“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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