Name: Ypsilanti Cocoanut Puffs
Ingredients: one-half pound pul- verized sugar stirred in the whites of three eggs; four cups of milk; four cups of flour; one pint of graham flour; one tablespoon baking powder; one pint sweet milk; one quart flour; one quart of milk; one pint boiling water; one tablespoon butter; one pint flour; one grated cocoanut; three eggs; four eggs; two eggs; half full; one egg; butter the size of two eggs

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 ↓

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 + buttertop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together81,283 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together124,287 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together78,219 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together92,116 recipes

Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together106,462 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

Egg whites: Whipped whites give the puffs lift and a light, airy structure as they set.
Grated coconut: Provides the main flavor and moisture in the batter.
Sugar: Sweetens the batter and helps the puffs brown in the oven.

The step that matters

Bake in a very quick oven. A very hot oven sets the outside of the cakes quickly so the egg whites puff up before they spread and collapse. A slow oven lets the batter spread flat and dry out unevenly.

“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.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Water	not in our table	0

Ypsilanti Cocoanut Puffs