Name: Sr. Purdon’s Lemon Buns
Ingredients: 1 1/4 cup milk 2 1/2 tablespns; 2 cups flour _when light_-- 1/2 teaspn; 1/3 cup oil; 1/2 cup seeded raisins in quarters 1/2 teaspn; 2 1/2 tablespns; 1 cake yeast 2 cups flour _when light_-- 1/2 teaspn; 1/2 teaspn; 3 tablespns

Why it works: Flour and raisin match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,075 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Sr. Purdon’s Lemon Buns

Ingredients

Directions

Make the dough

Combine 1¼ cup milk, 2½ tbsp sugar, 1 cake yeast, and 2 cups flour to make the sponge.
Add ½ tsp salt, ⅓ cup oil or butter, 3 tbsp sugar, ½ cup seeded raisins cut into quarters, ½ tsp lemon extract or grated lemon rind, and additional flour to form a soft dough.

Shape and bake

Let rise, shape as desired, brush with milk when light, and bake.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

785Calories

22 gProtein

23 gFat

123 gCarbs

Counts 4 of 5 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 4 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Grape	1/2 cup (76g)	62
Cake	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.

By Evora Bucknum Perkins. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg).

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 + raisintop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together9,075 recipes

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

Smell alikelow

Cooked together78,219 recipes

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

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together7,155 recipes

Shared aroma: decanoic acid (acides aroma).

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

Flour: Forms the gluten network that gives the dough structure and traps the gas that makes it rise.
Yeast: Produces carbon dioxide as it ferments, which leavens the dough so it rises.
Milk: Adds moisture to the dough and, brushed on top, helps the crust brown.
Oil: Adds fat that tenderizes the crumb and keeps the buns soft.
Sugar (in the method): Feeds the yeast during the sponge stage and adds sweetness and browning.

The step that matters

Let the dough rise until light before shaping. Yeast needs time and warmth to produce enough gas to lighten the dough. Shaping or baking too early gives dense buns, while over-proofing weakens the gluten so the buns collapse.

“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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Pound Cake373 recipes

Orange Bundt Cake349 recipes

Spice Cake344 recipes

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Sr. Purdon’s Lemon Buns