Why it works: Buttermilk and sugar match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and 2,973 recipes mention both. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
The recipe
Ingredients
Contains: milk (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Directions
Hang buttermilk in a cloth washed in beer and water overnight.
The next morning, let the whey drain.
Mix the solid part with milk or cream.
Sweeten to taste.
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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Buttermilk + sugartop 6% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together2,973 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Milk + sugartop 9% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together77,855 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Buttermilk + milktop 15% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together778 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
Milk and sugar share little aroma chemistry, yet 77,855 recipes mention both: they likely work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
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IllustrationThe Sunday pairing: one pairing, the chemistry behind it, and how to cook it. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
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