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 ↓
Batter Bread
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Sift together the flour, cornmeal, and salt.
In a bowl, beat the egg yolks and whites separately.
Make and bake
Combine the sifted dry ingredients with the beaten egg yolks and milk to make a thin batter.
Fold in the beaten egg whites gently.
Pour the batter into little tin molds.
Bake in a quick oven at 400°F (200°C) until golden.
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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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Egg + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 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
- Eggs
- Yolks bind the batter and add richness, while separately beaten whites lighten it and help it rise.
- Flour
- Provides the starch and structure that hold the batter together as it bakes.
- Cornmeal
- Adds a coarser texture and mild corn flavour to the bread.
- Rich milk
- Moistens the dry ingredients and carries the batter into a thin, pourable mixture.
The step that matters
Fold in the beaten egg whites gently. Beaten egg whites hold air bubbles that give the bread its lift. Stirring vigorously knocks that air out, so the bread bakes up denser and flatter.
“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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