Why it works: Butter and milk 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 ↓
Plain Muffins
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a rather quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the batter
In a bowl, beat the egg, butter, sugar, and salt until light.
Add the milk, flour, and baking powder, and mix until combined.
Bake
Drop the batter into well-greased muffin pans.
Bake for 20 minutes in a 400°F (200°C) oven, or cook on a griddle in muffin rings.
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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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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
- Provides the structure that holds the muffins together as they set.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the batter, helping the muffins rise and become light.
- Egg
- Binds the batter and adds structure as it sets during baking.
- Butter
- Adds fat, which gives the muffins a tender texture and rich flavor.
- Milk
- Hydrates the flour and adds moisture to the batter.
The step that matters
Beating the egg, butter, sugar, and salt until light. Beating incorporates air into the fat and egg mixture, which adds lightness. Under-beating leaves a denser muffin, while the later mixing should be limited so the flour does not develop too much gluten and make the muffins tough.
“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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