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 ↓
Corn Batter Bread
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Make the batter
Pour boiling milk over cornmeal in a bowl.
Add butter, sugar, and salt; mix well.
Beat egg yolks until creamy and add to the mixture.
In a separate bowl, beat egg whites until stiff and fold into the batter.
Bake and serve
Butter a pudding dish and pour the mixture into it.
Bake at 350°F (175°C) for 25 to 30 minutes.
Serve immediately in the baking dish.
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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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Milk + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Milk and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 77,875 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
- Egg whites
- Whipped to stiff peaks, they trap air that lifts the batter as it bakes.
- Egg yolks
- Add richness and fat, and help bind the batter into a tender custard-like crumb.
- Yellow cornmeal
- Forms the body of the bread; hot milk softens its grains so they absorb liquid.
- Butter
- Adds fat for a tender texture and rich flavor.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the crust brown lightly in the oven.
The step that matters
Folding the beaten egg whites into the batter. Stiff whites hold air that makes the cornbread rise and turn light. Overmixing or deflating them during folding releases that air, leaving a dense, flat result.
“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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