Why it works: Milk and butter 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 gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point. The book gives no cooking times either; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare the batter
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a bowl, mix the cornmeal, sour milk or buttermilk, sugar, melted butter, salt, and baking soda.
Beat the egg yolks and add them to the mixture.
Fold and bake
In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.
Gently fold the egg whites into the batter last.
Pour the batter into a greased baking dish and bake for 30-40 minutes or until golden 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.
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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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Milk + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Milk and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 77,875 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
- Cornmeal
- Provides the main body and the characteristic corn flavour and grainy texture of the bread.
- Sour milk or buttermilk
- Adds moisture and acidity that reacts with the baking soda to help the bread rise.
- Eggs
- Yolks bind the batter and enrich it; whipped whites add air and lift for a lighter crumb.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic milk to produce carbon dioxide, helping the cornbread rise and brown.
- Melted butter
- Adds fat for tenderness and a richer flavour.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the crust brown.
The step that matters
Folding in the egg whites. Whipped whites are full of trapped air that gives lift. Stirring or beating them in vigorously knocks that air out, leaving a denser, flatter bread. Fold gently, adding them last, so the batter stays light.
“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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