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 Bread
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a good oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the batter
In a mixing bowl, combine the cornmeal and milk.
Once cooled, add melted butter, salt, sugar, and the beaten eggs (whites beaten to stiff froth). Mix until well combined.
Bake
Pour the mixture into a well-buttered shallow pan.
Bake in a 400°F (200°C) oven 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.
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
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and, with their whites beaten to stiff froth, add lift and a lighter crumb.
- Yellow cornmeal
- Forms the body of the bread, giving it its characteristic grainy structure.
- Melted butter
- Adds fat for tenderness and a rich flavor.
- Milk
- Hydrates the cornmeal and adds moisture and richness to the batter.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the crust brown in the oven.
The step that matters
Folding in the stiff-beaten egg whites. Stiff egg whites trap air that expands in the oven and lifts the batter. If they are deflated by overmixing or added after the batter has been stirred too long, the cornbread bakes 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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