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 Rusks
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a sharp oven”. The 400°F in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the dough
Mix the yeast and sugar with a little of the milk and water until just tepid, ensuring no lumps remain.
Add about ¼ of the flour to form a sponge, cover, and let it rise until fully risen.
Stir in the melted butter, eggs, remaining flour, and salt to form a light dough on a floured surface.
Cover the dough for 1 hour, then shape it into long rolls about the thickness of a rolling pin.
Prove and bake
Grease the sides of the rolls for easier separation and place them on a greased baking sheet.
Set the baking sheet over boiling water and cover with a cloth for 20 to 30 minutes.
Bake the rolls on a greased baking sheet in a hot oven (400°F / 200°C) until golden.
Once baked, break them apart and let them cool overnight.
Slice and dry
Rasp the tops and bottoms, then cut the rolls into thin slices.
Lay the slices on baking sheets or wire racks and brown in the oven on both sides.
When completely cool, store in tins with well-fitting lids.
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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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).
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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).
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
- Vienna flour
- Provides the gluten network that gives the dough its structure and chew.
- French or german yeast
- Produces gas that makes the dough rise and become light.
- Eggs
- Add structure, richness and colour to the dough.
- Butter
- Adds fat that softens the crumb and gives a richer flavour.
- Castor sugar
- Feeds the yeast and adds sweetness and browning.
- Milk
- Adds moisture and softness to the dough.
The step that matters
Browning the thin slices. Thin slices must dry and brown on both sides to become crisp. Storing them before they are completely cool traps moisture, so they soften instead of staying crisp.
“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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