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 ↓
Graham Popovers
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
Beat three eggs very light, and add to them one tablespoonful of sugar, one pint of milk, and a saltspoonful of salt.
Put half a pint each of Graham and white flour in a mixing bowl.
Stir the eggs and milk gradually into this and beat until perfectly smooth.
Add one tablespoonful of melted butter and beat again for some minutes.
Prepare the cups
Brush the cups over with melted butter.
If they are of iron, heat them.
Half fill with the batter.
Bake
Bake in a quick oven fifty minutes at least.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 5 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Milk | 1 cup (244ml) whole | 149 |
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| 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.
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.
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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
-
Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Sugar + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Sugar and milk barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 77,875 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, helping the batter puff and hold its shape as it bakes.
- Graham flour (in the method)
- Gives the batter body and a nutty, wholesome flavour while forming its structure.
- White flour (in the method)
- Adds gluten-based structure so the batter can trap steam and rise.
- Milk
- Supplies the liquid that turns to steam in the oven, driving the rise and adding moisture.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and tenderness, and helps the crust brown and release from the cups.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the outside brown in the oven.
The step that matters
Bake in a quick oven fifty minutes at least.. A hot oven heats the batter quickly so steam forms fast and pushes the walls up before they set. In a cool oven the popovers rise poorly and turn out flat and dense.
“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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