Name: Marie Paidar
Ingredients: two cups of bran; two cups of flour; four tablespoons of sugar; four tablespoons of melted butter; one teaspoon of salt; one teaspoon of soda; one teaspoon of baking powder; two cups of buttermilk; four table- spoons of melted lard

Why it works: Flour and buttermilk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,721 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Marie Paidar

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

Dissolve soda in buttermilk.
Sift baking powder with flour.

Bake

Bake forty-five minutes in muffin tins.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

870Calories

21 gProtein

34 gFat

120 gCarbs

What these numbers assume: 6 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Lard	1 tbsp (12.8g)	115
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By Paidar, Marie, Mrs., [from old catalog] comp. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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. See the original page.

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.

Flour + buttermilktop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,721 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Sugar + buttermilktop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,973 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together124,287 recipes

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

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together92,116 recipes

Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together98,233 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

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

Bran: Adds fiber-rich bulk and a hearty texture, and absorbs liquid.
Flour: Provides the structure that holds the muffin together as it bakes.
Buttermilk: Adds moisture and acidity, and reacts with the soda to help the muffins rise.
Soda: Reacts with the acidic buttermilk to produce gas that lightens the batter.
Baking powder: Releases gas during baking to give the muffins additional lift.
Melted butter: Adds fat for richer flavor and a more tender crumb.

“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.