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 ↓
Pop-overs
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C) and grease the pan.
Make the batter
Beat the eggs until very light, then add the milk and salt.
Gradually pour the egg mixture into the flour while stirring continuously.
Strain the batter through a sieve to remove any lumps.
Bake
Fill the greased pans half full with the batter and bake for about 25 minutes.
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 + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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
- Eggs
- Provide structure and lift, setting the walls as the batter expands in the oven.
- Flour
- Forms the gluten network that gives the popover its hollow, crisp-walled structure.
- Milk
- Adds moisture that turns to steam during baking, helping the popovers rise.
The step that matters
Strain the batter and keep it well mixed. Lumps left in the batter can leave pockets of raw flour and uneven rise. Stirring the egg into the flour gradually avoids lumps, and straining removes any that remain, so the batter bakes smoothly and the popovers rise evenly.
“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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