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 ↓
Yeast Bread
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the sponge
Soak the yeast in lukewarm water for 15 minutes.
Stir in enough flour to make a stiff batter and set it in a warm place until very light.
Mix and knead
Scald the milk and add it to the mixture along with cold water, salt, sugar, and enough flour to knead.
Knead the dough for 30 minutes, then rub the top with butter or lard to prevent drying.
Knead the dough again for another 30 minutes in the morning, then divide into 6 loaves.
Bake and finish
Let the loaves rise until light, then bake in a hot oven at 400°F (200°C) for 1 hour.
After baking, wet the tops of the loaves with sweet milk or butter to soften the crust.
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 + buttertop 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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Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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
- Yeast
- Ferments the dough, producing gas that makes the loaves rise and turn light.
- Flour
- Forms the gluten network that gives the bread its structure and chew.
- Milk
- Adds richness, softness and browning to the crumb and crust.
- Sugar
- Feeds the yeast and adds a little sweetness and browning to the crust.
- Butter or lard
- Adds fat that keeps the surface from drying and softens the crust.
The step that matters
Kneading the dough. Kneading for the full time develops gluten so the dough can trap gas and rise well. Under-kneaded dough bakes up dense and crumbly.
“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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