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 ↓
Corn Bread
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 batter
Beat the sugar and eggs together.
Add the buttermilk, then the baking soda dissolved in a little hot water.
Mix in the other ingredients, using enough corn meal to form a rather soft batter.
Bake
Pour the batter into a square pan.
Bake for about 30 minutes in a 400°F (200°C) oven.
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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Buttermilk + flourtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,721 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Buttermilk + sugartop 9% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,973 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Corn + milktop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,955 recipes
Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 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
- Buttermilk
- Its acidity reacts with baking soda to make the cornbread rise and gives it a tender crumb.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic sour buttermilk to release carbon dioxide, lifting the batter as it bakes.
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and add structure and richness as they set in the oven.
- Corn meal
- Provides the main body and corn flavor, with its texture shaping the crumb of the bread.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the crust brown as it bakes.
The step that matters
Mix in the other ingredients, using enough corn meal to form a rather soft batter.. Too much corn meal makes the batter stiff, which yields a dry, crumbly cornbread. A soft batter keeps the crumb moist and lets the leavening lift it evenly.
“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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