Name: Corn Bread
Ingredients: 2 cups sweet milk; 1 cup sour milk; 3 cups cornmeal; 2 cups flour; ½ cup molasses; 1 teaspoon baking soda; 1 teaspoon salt

Why it works: Milk and flour 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 ↓

Corn Bread

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Mix the batter

Combine sweet milk, sour milk, cornmeal, flour, molasses, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl.
Mix until well combined.

Steam and bake

Steam the mixture for 2 hours.
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Bake for 30 minutes.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together78,219 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour + molassestop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together10,429 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Milk + molassestop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together7,243 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

Milk and flour 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

Cornmeal: Provides the main structure and the coarse, grainy texture of the cornbread.
Flour: Adds gluten-based structure so the bread holds together.
Sour milk: Its acidity reacts with the baking soda to produce gas that lightens the bread.
Baking soda: Reacts with the acid in the sour milk to release carbon dioxide for rising.
Molasses: Adds sweetness, moisture, and a deep brown color with a rich flavor.
Sweet milk: Adds liquid that hydrates the cornmeal and flour and keeps the crumb moist.

“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.