Why it works: Butter and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. 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
Pour 1 pint of boiling water over the cornmeal and mix well.
Add 1 pint of cold water and stir until combined.
In a separate bowl, cream the butter and sugar together.
Beat in the eggs one at a time, then add the salt.
Combine the baking powder and flour, then mix into the wet ingredients.
Bake
Combine all mixtures and pour into a greased baking dish.
Bake at 350°F (175°C) until golden brown.
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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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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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).
Butter and flour 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
- Cornmeal
- Forms the bulk of the batter and gives the cornbread its characteristic grainy texture.
- Butter
- Adds fat for tenderness and richness, and helps browning in the oven.
- Eggs
- Add structure and binding, helping the batter set as it bakes.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the batter, causing it to rise and become lighter.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the crust brown.
- Flour
- Adds structure, helping the bread hold its shape after baking.
The step that matters
Combine the baking powder and flour, then mix into the wet ingredients. Baking powder starts releasing gas once it meets liquid, so the batter should be mixed gently and baked promptly to keep the rise lively and the texture even.
“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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