Why it works: Flour and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 78,219 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Soda Bread
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a large bowl, rub the cream of tartar into the flour.
Make the dough
Dissolve the baking soda in the warm water and add it to the flour mixture.
Gradually stir in sweet milk until a dough forms.
Mould the dough into loaves and place them on a baking sheet.
Bake
Bake for about 45 minutes, or until the loaves are a light 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.
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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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Cream + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together29,399 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Flour + creamtop 20% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together30,481 recipes
Shared aroma: acetaldehyde (pungent, ethereal).
Flour and milk barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 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
- All-purpose flour
- Forms the main structure of the loaves as its proteins bind with the liquid.
- Cream of tartar
- Provides acid that reacts with the baking soda to produce gas for rising.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acid to release carbon dioxide, lifting the dough and helping it rise.
- Sweet milk
- Adds moisture that hydrates the flour and brings the dough together.
The step that matters
Stirring in the milk. Add the milk gradually and stop once a dough forms. Overworking develops gluten strands, which makes the bread tough and dense rather than tender.
“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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