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 ↓
Baps
8 bapsIngredients
Directions
Prepare the yeast mixture
Combine yeast, sugar, water, and milk in a bowl, cover, and let stand in a warm place for about 10 minutes or until the mixture is frothy.
Make and rise the dough
Sift flour and salt into a large bowl and rub in the lard.
Stir in the yeast mixture, mix to a soft dough, cover, and let stand in a warm place for about 1 hour or until the dough has doubled in size.
Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for about 5 minutes or until smooth.
Shape and bake
Divide the dough into 8 pieces, knead into balls, and place the baps 5 cm apart onto floured oven trays.
Dust the baps lightly with a little more sifted flour, cover with a tea towel, and let stand in a warm place for about 10 minutes or until the baps are well risen.
Dust the baps again with a little sifted flour.
Make an impression in the centre of each bap with a finger.
Bake in a hot oven for about 15 minutes or until lightly browned.
Serve hot with butter.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 5 of 6 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 5 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Milk | 1 cup (244ml) whole | 149 |
| Lard | 1 tbsp (12.8g) | 115 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
| Water | not in our table | 0 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.
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 pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
-
Sugar + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 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
- Plain flour
- Forms the gluten network that gives the baps their soft, elastic structure.
- Yeast
- Produces gas that makes the dough rise and become light and airy.
- Lard
- Rubbed into the flour to add fat, tenderising the crumb and softening the texture.
- Milk
- Adds moisture and richness, and helps browning on the baked surface.
The step that matters
Let the dough rise until doubled. Yeast needs enough warm time to build gas; under-proofed dough bakes dense, while kneading develops the gluten that traps that gas.
“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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