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 ↓
To Make Buns
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 dough
In a large bowl, combine the flour, ale-yeast, sack, and beaten eggs.
Knead in enough warm milk to form a dough.
Add nutmeg and salt, then knead until smooth.
Let the dough rise in a warm place until it doubles in size.
Shape and bake
Knead in the fresh butter and carraway comfits.
Shape the dough as desired and place on greased parchment paper.
Bake in a preheated oven at 400°F (200°C) until golden.
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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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Flour + nutmegtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,623 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sherry + buttertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,505 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
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Sherry + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,479 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine (cocoa, roasted).
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 dough's structure once it is kneaded with liquid and eggs.
- Ale-yeast
- Ferments the dough, producing gas that makes it rise and become light.
- Eggs
- Add structure and richness, and help bind the dough.
- Fresh butter
- Adds fat for tenderness and richness in the finished buns.
- Sack
- Adds moisture and a mild wine flavour to the dough.
The step that matters
Letting the dough rise until it doubles. Yeast needs a warm place and enough time to produce gas. Under-proofed dough bakes dense, while the structure set by kneading holds the rise in the oven.
Swap the nutmeg
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, sherry, egg, milk, butter):
- Nutmegthe original
- Cinnamonfits about as well
- Parsleyfits less well
- Capersfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, sherry, egg, milk, butter. 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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