Why it works: Flour and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Brioche
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the dough
Dissolve sugar and salt in water.
In a bowl, combine flour, dissolved mixture, butter, and knead until smooth.
Knead in eggs one at a time until fully incorporated.
Add leaven and knead well with the dough.
Place dough in a floured bowl, cover with a towel, and let rise in a warm place for 4 hours.
Knead again and let rise for an additional 2 hours.
Shape and bake
Shape dough into rings or loaves and brush with beaten egg.
Place on floured pans, cover with a towel, and let rise until doubled in size.
Bake in a preheated oven at 350°F (175°C) for about 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 + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 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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Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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
- All-purpose flour
- Provides the structure that holds the dough together as it is kneaded and risen.
- Eggs
- Add richness, moisture and structure, and help bind the dough.
- Butter
- Adds fat that makes the crumb tender and rich.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the crust brown during baking.
- Leaven
- Makes the dough rise, giving the bread its light, airy texture.
The step that matters
Kneading in the eggs and butter. Eggs and butter must be worked in gradually so the dough stays cohesive; adding them too fast can break the emulsion and leave the dough greasy and slack.
“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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