Name: Raisin Puffs
Ingredients: 2 eggs; ½ cup sugar; 1 cup milk; ⅓ cup melted butter; 1 cup raisins; 2 cups flour; 3 teaspoons baking powder

Why it works: Raisin and flour match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,075 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Raisin Puffs

Ingredients

Directions

Make the batter

In a bowl, beat the eggs and mix in the sugar, milk, and melted butter.
Stir in the raisins, flour, and baking powder until well combined.
Pour the mixture into custard cups, filling them halfway.

Steam and serve

Steam for 30 minutes until cooked through.
Serve with lemon sauce or any tart sauce.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

Raisin + flourtop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together9,075 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together81,283 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together124,287 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Sugar + raisintop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together12,481 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together78,219 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

Eggs: Bind the batter and add structure as the puffs set.
Flour: Forms the main structure that holds the puffs together when cooked.
Baking powder: Releases gas in the batter, helping the puffs rise and turn light.
Butter: Adds fat for tenderness and rich flavor.
Sugar: Adds sweetness and helps browning.
Raisins: Add sweetness and chewy pockets of fruit throughout the puffs.