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 ↓
Pop Overs
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
Beat the egg with salt.
Add half the milk.
Beat in the flour.
Add a teaspoonful of oil or melted butter after the flour is beaten into half the milk.
Add the remainder of the milk.
Strain the batter into a pitcher; rest.
Sometimes pour the mixed egg and milk gradually into the flour, stirring.
Sometimes use beaten egg whites, adding them after straining the batter.
Bake and serve
Pour the batter into rather hot irons and bake in a moderate oven.
German puffs use 4 eggs; Vanity puffs use 6 eggs; other ingredients remain the same.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 5 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Milk | 1 cup (244ml) whole | 149 |
| Olive Oil | 1 tbsp (14g) | 119 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| 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.
-
Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 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
- Eggs
- Structure and richness; they set during baking and help the puffs rise and hold their hollow shape.
- Flour
- Provides the structure that holds the expanded batter walls together after baking.
- Milk
- Supplies liquid that turns to steam in the hot iron, driving the batter upward.
The step that matters
Pour the batter into rather hot irons. The batter must hit a very hot pan so its moisture turns to steam quickly and the outside sets fast, letting the puffs rise dramatically instead of spreading flat.
“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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