Name: Mile and Water Bread
Ingredients: 1 cup scalded milk; 1 cup boiling water; 1 tablespoon lard; 1 tablespoon butter; 1½ teaspoons salt; 1 yeast cake; ¼ cup lukewarm water; 6 cups sifted flour (or 1 cup white flour and enough whole wheat flour to knead); 3 tablespoons molasses (if using whole wheat flour)

Why it works: Milk and wheat are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,418 recipes. Both carry (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal, which smells cucumber, melon. The science ↓

Mile and Water Bread

Ingredients

1 cup scalded milk
1 cup boiling water
1 tablespoon lard
1 tablespoon butter
1½ teaspoons salt
1 yeast cake
¼ cup lukewarm water
6 cups sifted flour (or 1 cup white flour and enough whole wheat flour to knead)
3 tablespoons molasses (if using whole wheat flour)

Directions

In a bowl, combine scalded milk, boiling water, lard, butter, and salt.
Dissolve the yeast cake in lukewarm water and add to the mixture.
Gradually mix in the sifted flour until a dough forms.
If using whole wheat flour, add molasses.
Knead the dough until smooth, then place it in a warm area to rise.
To maintain a uniform temperature, place the bowl in a pan of water heated to 95°F to 100°F.
Allow the dough to rise until doubled in size, then shape and bake as water bread.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

Milk + wheattop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,418 recipes

Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).
Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together81,283 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Flour + wheattop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,373 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together124,287 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Butter + wheattop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,002 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

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: Forms the dough structure that traps gas and gives the loaf its crumb.
Yeast cake: Produces carbon dioxide as it ferments, making the dough rise.
Milk: Adds richness and softness to the crumb and helps browning.
Lard: Adds fat that tenderizes the crumb and softens the texture.
Butter: Adds fat and flavor, tenderizing the crumb.
Molasses: Adds sweetness and moisture, and deepens the color of whole wheat dough.

The step that matters

Rising in a warm water bath. Yeast works best at a steady warm temperature. Too cold and the dough rises slowly; too hot and the yeast can be killed, so the dough may not rise properly.

“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.

Wheat Bread65 recipes

Whole Wheat Bread55 recipes

Barley Wheat Bread6 recipes

Cornbread345 recipes

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Mile and Water Bread