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 ↓
Corn Bread
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “the hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the batter
Sift the corn meal into a bowl.
Dissolve the baking soda in the hot milk and pour it over the corn meal, then beat well.
When the mixture cools, add the sour milk, beaten eggs, sugar, and salt. Beat thoroughly.
Bake and serve
Pour the batter into a hot, buttered skillet.
If desired, pour the rich sweet milk into the center of the batter before baking without stirring.
Bake in a preheated oven at 400°F (200°C) 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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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Corn + milktop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,955 recipes
Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).
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Corn + buttertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,345 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
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Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Yellow corn meal
- Forms the main body of the bread, giving it its grainy structure and crumb.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic sour milk to produce gas, helping the cornbread rise.
- Sour milk
- Its acidity activates the baking soda and adds a tangy flavor and tender texture.
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and add structure and richness as they set in the oven.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the crust brown during baking.
The step that matters
Dissolve the baking soda in the hot milk before adding it to the corn meal. Baking soda must be fully dissolved and evenly mixed into the batter so it reacts with the acid in the sour milk and lifts the bread evenly. Undissolved pockets can leave bitter spots or uneven rising.
“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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