Why it works: Milk and butter 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 ↓
Melted Butter
Ingredients
Directions
Rub together the flour and butter in a bowl until well blended.
Add the hot water or milk gradually, mixing until smooth.
Transfer the mixture to a small saucepan and heat over medium heat.
Stir constantly until it boils, then let it boil for 1 minute to remove the raw taste.
If using fresh butter, add salt to taste.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour and butter 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
- Thickens the mixture and gives it body as it heats.
- Butter
- Provides richness and fat, carrying flavour through the sauce.
- Hot water or milk
- Hydrates the flour so the mixture becomes smooth and pourable.
The step that matters
Boiling for 1 minute. Starch in the flour only thickens fully and loses its raw, floury taste once it reaches a boil, so the mixture must be stirred constantly and boiled for the stated minute.
“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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