Why it works: Flour and milk 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 ↓
Sally Lunn
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
In a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar, lard, and baking powder.
In another bowl, whisk the eggs, then add the milk and water.
Make and bake
Combine the wet and dry ingredients to form a thin batter.
Pour the batter into a greased baking dish.
Bake for about 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.
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.
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 + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Egg + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Sugar + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Flour and milk 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
- Provide structure and richness as they set, helping the bun hold its rise.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the batter, lifting the bun as it bakes.
- Flour
- Forms the gluten and starch framework that gives the bun its body.
- Milk
- Adds moisture and richness, and helps browning through milk sugars.
- Lard
- Adds fat that tenderises the crumb and softens its texture.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the bun and helps it brown in the oven.
The step that matters
Pour the batter into a greased baking dish. The batter is thin and rises mainly from baking powder, so it needs a well-greased dish for the bun to release cleanly. Pouring promptly after mixing keeps the gas from the baking powder working in the bowl instead of the oven.
“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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