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 ↓
New Orleans Corn 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.
Make the batter
Cream together the butter and sugar.
Beat in the eggs without separating them.
Dissolve the baking soda in a little warm water and add it to the sour milk.
Stir the milk mixture into the butter, sugar, and eggs.
Add the flour and cornmeal, and beat vigorously.
Bake
Bake in a loaf or sheet pan at 350°F (175°C) for about 45 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.
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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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 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).
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
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and add structure and richness to the crumb.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the sour milk's acid to produce gas that makes the cornbread rise.
- Sour milk
- Its acidity activates the baking soda and adds moisture and tang.
- All-purpose flour
- Provides the main structure that holds the cornbread together.
- Cornmeal
- Gives the cornbread its coarse texture and corn flavor.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps browning and a tender crumb.
The step that matters
Dissolve the baking soda and add it to the sour milk. Baking soda needs an acid to react and release carbon dioxide. Dissolving it in a little warm water and mixing it evenly into the sour milk spreads the reaction through the batter, so the cornbread rises evenly instead of in patches or with a bitter taste.
“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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