Why it works: Milk and wheat are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,418 recipes. Both carry (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal, which smells cucumber, melon. The science ↓
Corn 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.
Prepare the batter
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Beat the egg whites and yolks separately, then combine them.
Sift the flour and cornmeal together, add the baking powder, and sift again.
In a bowl, mix the milk with the beaten yolks, salt, and melted butter.
Add the sifted flour and cornmeal mixture, and mix thoroughly.
Gently fold in the beaten egg whites.
Bake
Pour the batter into a well-buttered tin and bake for 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 + wheattop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,418 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).
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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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Wheat + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,373 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Wheat + buttertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,002 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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
- Eggs
- Whites trap air for lift, while yolks add richness and help bind the batter.
- Cornmeal
- Provides the main body and coarse, grainy texture of the bread.
- Wheat flour
- Adds gluten structure that helps the bread hold its shape.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the batter, causing the bread to rise in the oven.
- Milk
- Hydrates the dry ingredients and adds moisture and tenderness.
- Melted butter
- Adds fat for tenderness, flavour and a moist crumb.
The step that matters
Gently fold in the beaten egg whites. Whipped egg whites hold trapped air that gives lift. Stirring vigorously knocks that air out, leaving a dense cornbread, so fold gently until just combined.
“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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