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 ↓
Delicious Corn Bread
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point. The book gives no cooking times either; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a large bowl, combine the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt.
In another bowl, beat the egg and mix in the milk and softened butter.
Mix and bake
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until just combined.
Pour the batter into a greased baking dish.
Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean.
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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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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 body and the characteristic coarse, crumbly texture of the cornbread.
- All-purpose flour
- Adds gluten-based structure so the bread holds together when sliced.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the crust brown through caramelization.
- Egg
- Binds the batter and adds structure as it sets in the oven.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic cream of tartar to release gas, helping the cornbread rise.
- Cream of tartar
- Provides acidity that activates the baking soda, giving lift and a tender crumb.
The step that matters
Stir the batter until just combined. Once flour meets liquid, gluten begins to form. Overmixing toughens the crumb, while stopping as soon as the dry ingredients are moistened keeps the cornbread tender.
“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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