Hot Cross Buns

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.

1. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together81,283 recipes

   Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

2. Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairs
   Smell alikelow
   Cooked together124,287 recipes

   Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

3. Flour + milktop 14% of all pairs
   Smell alikelow
   Cooked together78,219 recipes

   Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

4. Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together92,116 recipes

   Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).

5. Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairs
   Smell alikelow
   Cooked together106,462 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

Provides the structure that the dough builds around as it kneads and rises.

Barm

Yeast that ferments the dough, producing gas that makes the buns rise and become light.

Butter

Adds fat that tenderises the crumb and gives a richer texture.

Castor sugar

Sweetens the dough and feeds the yeast, helping browning in the oven.

Currants

Add concentrated sweetness and fruit flavour throughout the buns.

Beaten egg

Glaze that browns the surface and gives the buns a glossy finish.

The step that matters

Swap the currant

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, sugar, butter, egg, milk):

1. Vanillafits better
2. Raisinfits better
3. Figfits better
4. Currantthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against flour, sugar, butter, egg, milk. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.