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 hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
In a bowl, mix the cornmeal and flour.
In another bowl, combine the sour milk and beaten eggs.
Make the batter
Add the milk mixture to the cornmeal mixture alternately with the butter and sugar.
Dissolve the baking soda in a little milk and add it to the batter.
If using sweet milk, add 1 teaspoon cream of tartar.
Bake
Pour the batter into a greased baking dish and bake for 20 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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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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
- Cornmeal
- Gives the bread its coarse, crumbly texture and corn flavor.
- All-purpose flour
- Provides structure so the bread holds its shape after baking.
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and add structure and richness as they set.
- Sour milk
- Adds moisture and acidity, which reacts with the baking soda.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acid in sour milk to release gas that makes the bread rise.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the crust brown during baking.
The step that matters
Adding the baking soda to the batter. Baking soda starts releasing gas as soon as it meets the acid in the sour milk. Mix it in thoroughly and get the batter into the oven promptly so the gas is trapped in the batter and the bread rises well.
“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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