Why it works: Flour and milk 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
In a bowl, combine the flour and salt.
Make a well in the center, add the eggs, and gradually mix in the milk while beating until smooth.
Let the batter rest for about 1 hour.
Bake and serve
When the meat is more than half cooked, remove it from the tin and pour off the drippings.
Pour the batter into the tin and place the meat on a rack above it.
Bake in a hot oven at 400°F (200°C) for about 30 minutes.
Serve in squares alongside the meat.
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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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Egg + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Flour and milk 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
- Flour
- Forms the structure of the batter that puffs and sets as it bakes.
- Eggs
- Add structure and help the batter rise and set during baking.
- Milk
- Adds moisture and helps form a smooth batter that steams and puffs.
The step that matters
Pour the batter into the hot drippings. The tin must be very hot with fat before the batter goes in. The sudden heat sets the batter's edges quickly, letting it puff up rather than spread flat and dense.
“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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