Why it works: Flour and buttermilk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,721 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Corn Bread
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
In a large bowl, combine the Indian meal, flour, buttermilk, sweet milk, molasses, baking soda, and salt. Mix until well combined.
Pour the mixture into a greased loaf pan.
Steam and serve
Steam for 4 hours.
For a smaller loaf, halve the ingredients and steam for 2 hours.
Serve warm.
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 + buttermilktop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,721 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Buttermilk + molassestop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together526 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + molassestop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,429 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Milk + molassestop 21% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together7,243 recipes
Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
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
- Indian meal
- Provides the main body and coarse corn texture of the bread.
- Flour
- Adds structure so the loaf holds together after steaming.
- Buttermilk or sour milk
- Its acidity reacts with baking soda to lift the batter and adds tenderness.
- Sweet milk
- Adds moisture and loosens the batter to a pourable consistency.
- Molasses
- Adds sweetness, dark color, and a rich aroma.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic buttermilk to produce gas that leavens the loaf.
The step that matters
Steam for the full time. Steaming cooks the batter gently with moist heat, and the loaf sets only after the full time. Stopping early leaves the center wet and 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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