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 ↓
Yorkshire Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the batter
Stir the milk and flour together to form a batter.
Add the salt and beaten eggs, mixing well.
Bake and serve
Preheat a shallow tin pan with lots of melted dripping until boiling hot.
Pour the batter into the hot pan.
Bake for 30 minutes at 400°F (200°C).
Serve under the roast to catch some of the dripping.
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.
-
Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Egg + flourtop 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
- Bind the batter and add structure as the pudding sets and puffs.
- Flour
- Forms the batter's structure, setting firm as the pudding bakes.
- New milk
- Provides the liquid that turns the flour into a batter and adds moisture for steam.
- Dripping
- Heated until smoking, it fries the batter's base for crisp browning and lift.
The step that matters
Preheat the dripping until boiling hot. The batter must hit very hot fat so its outside sets quickly. This sudden heat creates steam that lifts the batter and forms the crisp walls. A cool pan gives a flat, greasy result.
“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.
More yorkshire pudding recipes
You might also like
The free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.

Tomato Soup526 recipes
Brown Bread461 recipes
Mutton Broth292 recipes
Chicken Broth257 recipes