Why it works: Butter and milk 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 ↓
Bread Rolls
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the sponge
Dissolve the yeast cake in ½ cup of lukewarm water around 6 o'clock.
Add enough flour to make a thin batter.
Let the batter sit in a warm place for 2 hours.
Sift the flour.
Mix in the sugar and salt.
Combine melted butter with scalded milk, mashed potatoes, and water.
Pour the yeast mixture into the flour.
Add the lukewarm liquid.
Stir until you have a stiff batter.
Cover the mixture.
Let it rise in a warm place overnight.
Shape the rolls
Add enough flour to make the dough kneadable.
Knead the dough.
Roll out the dough.
Cut it into desired shapes.
Brush the shapes with melted butter.
Let the rolls rise in a warm place until very light.
Bake
Bake in a preheated oven at 400°F (200°C) for 20 to 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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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Milk + potatotop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,611 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).
-
Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Butter + potatotop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,456 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 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
- Flour
- Forms the structure of the batter and dough once kneaded.
- Royal yeast cake
- Ferments the batter, producing gas that makes the dough rise and become light.
- Butter
- Adds richness and tenderness, and helps the rolls brown on the surface.
- Sugar
- Feeds the yeast and adds sweetness and browning.
- Milk
- Adds moisture and richness, and softens the crumb.
- Mashed potatoes
- Hold moisture and keep the rolls soft and tender.
The step that matters
Letting the batter rise overnight. The yeast needs a warm, covered environment to ferment fully. Under-rising leaves the rolls dense, while the batter must be stiff enough to trap the gas the yeast produces.
Swap the potato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, butter, sugar, milk):
- Arrowrootfits about as well
- Sweet potatofits about as well
- Potatothe original
- Leekfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, butter, sugar, milk. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“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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