Why it works: Flour and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 106,462 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Brioche
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a very hot oven”. The 400°F in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
When the dough has risen to twice its size, mix it with the paste.
Knead the mixture well.
Form the mixture into a large ball.
Sprinkle flour over the paste, cover it, and let it stand for 4 hours in a warm place.
Roll it out and fold it four or five times.
Make it into a ball again, flour it, and let it stand for 2 hours.
Roll it out and fold as before.
Put it in a cold place to firm up.
Form it into small loaves.
Beat the egg with a little water and brush it over the loaves.
Bake on a tin in a very hot oven (400°F / 200°C) for 1 hour.
Serve hot or cold.
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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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour and egg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 106,462 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
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