Why it works: Butter and milk 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 ↓
Good Egg Bread
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a slow oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the batter
Pour a little boiling water over the cornmeal to scald it.
Add the salt and stir in the well-beaten yolks of the eggs.
Mix in the milk, melted lard, and butter.
Fold in the well-beaten whites of the eggs.
Bake
Bake in a slow oven at 300°F (150°C) for nearly an hour.
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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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cornmeal
- Forms the bulk of the bread, giving it its base structure and corn flavor.
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and, with the whites folded in, add lift and a lighter crumb.
- Lard
- Adds fat for a tender texture and moist crumb.
- Butter
- Contributes fat for richness and a softer texture.
- Milk
- Adds moisture and hydrates the cornmeal into a pourable batter.
The step that matters
Fold in the well-beaten whites of the eggs. Whipped egg whites trap air that expands in the oven and gives the bread lift. Folding gently keeps that air in, so the batter should be mixed in last and not stirred vigorously.
“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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