Why it works: Flour and milk 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 ↓
Liebig's Artificial Milk for Babies
Ingredients
Directions
Make the mixture
Mix the wheaten flour with the milk in a saucepan, then boil for 3-4 minutes.
Remove from heat and let cool to about 90°F (32°C).
Stir in the malt powder mixed with bicarbonate of potassa and water.
Steep and finish
Cork the vessel and let it stand for 1.5 hours at 100°F to 150°F (38°C to 65°C).
Gently boil again for a few minutes, then strain to remove any husk particles.
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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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Milk + malttop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together101 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine (cocoa, roasted).
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Flour + malttop 24% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together260 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour and milk 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
- Wheaten flour
- Provides starch that thickens the mixture as it heats and gives body to the drink.
- Milk
- Supplies the main liquid, fat and protein for the base of the drink.
- Malt powder
- Adds sweetness and enzymes that break down starch into simpler sugars during standing.
The step that matters
Holding at warm temperature. The mixture must stand warm, not hot, so the malt enzymes can convert starch to sugar. Too much heat will destroy the enzymes, and too little will leave the starch unconverted.
“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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