Why it works: Flour and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 106,462 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
French Batter
Ingredients
Directions
Melt the butter
Cut a couple of ounces of good butter into small bits.
Pour the butter into less than a quarter pint of boiling water.
When the butter is dissolved, add three quarters of a pint of cold water, so that the mixture is not quite milk warm.
Make the batter
Mix the mixture by degrees and very smoothly with twelve ounces of fine dry flour and a small pinch of salt (use more salt for meat or vegetable batter).
Just before using, stir in the whites of two eggs beaten to a solid froth.
If the batter appears too thick, add a little water until proper consistency is reached.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 3 of 4 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 3 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
| Water | 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.
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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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour and egg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 106,462 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
- Fine dry flour
- Forms the batter's main structure as its starch and proteins set around the liquid.
- Butter (in the method)
- Adds richness and a tender texture to the finished batter.
- Egg whites
- Beaten to a froth, they trap air that lightens the batter and helps it puff.
- Water
- Hydrates the flour and sets the batter's thickness, which you adjust by adding more.
The step that matters
Stir in the beaten egg whites just before using. Beaten egg whites hold air only for a short time. Folding them in right before cooking keeps the batter light and helps it puff, while waiting lets the foam 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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