Why it works: Flour and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 78,219 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
French Bread
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Mix and rise
In a bowl, mix the flour, egg yolks, egg whites, salt, yeast, and enough warm milk to form a thin, light dough.
Stir the mixture well, but do not knead it.
Divide the dough into three equal portions and place them in wooden dishes.
Set the dishes in a warm place to rise.
Bake
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
Once risen, turn the dough out into the oven and bake until done.
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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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Egg + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Flour and milk barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 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
- Fine flour
- Provides the starch and gluten-forming protein that give the bread its structure.
- Egg yolks
- Add richness and fat, softening the crumb and aiding browning.
- Egg whites
- Add protein that helps set the structure and give the loaf lift.
- Yeast
- Produces carbon dioxide as it ferments, making the dough rise.
The step that matters
Letting the dough rise in a warm place. Yeast activity depends on warmth, and the dough must rise fully before baking so the loaf gets its light, airy crumb. Underproofed dough bakes up dense.
“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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