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 ↓
Batter Bread
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the batter
Soak the white Indian meal in boiling water overnight, enough to cover it.
In the morning, add the beaten eggs, milk, salt, and lard or butter.
If the batter is too thick, thin it with water until very thin.
Beat the mixture hard for 10 minutes.
Bake
Bake in a hot oven at 400°F (200°C) until nicely browned.
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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Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Egg + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- White indian meal
- Cornmeal forms the body of the bread and gives it its grainy structure.
- Eggs
- Eggs bind the batter and help the bread set and hold its shape when baked.
- Milk
- Milk adds moisture and richness and helps the batter brown in the oven.
- Lard or butter
- Fat tenderizes the crumb and adds flavor and richness to the bread.
The step that matters
Beat the mixture hard for 10 minutes. Vigorous beating incorporates air and develops the batter's texture, helping the bread rise and become light rather than dense.
“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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