Why it works: Milk and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 29,399 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
To Make Butter
Ingredients
Directions
Scald your milk pans after washing and let them cool in water.
Fill the pans with cold water half an hour before milking and empty just before use.
Strain the milk into broad, shallow pans and place them in a cool area.
After 24 hours, skim off the cream and place it in a covered earthen jar, stirring it twice daily.
Churn the cream at least twice a week, adding the strippings of the milk.
Ensure the churn is clean and cool it with cold water before use.
Strain the cream into the churn and cover it, then churn slowly in warm weather.
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 + creamtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together29,399 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
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