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 moderately hot oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the batter
Sift the flour into a bowl and add the egg without beating it.
Gradually stir in half the milk until the mixture is smooth and lump-free.
Beat the mixture thoroughly until it is light and smooth.
Mix in the remaining milk and let the batter rest for two hours if possible.
Bake
Preheat a Yorkshire pudding tin with 2 oz. of hot dripping.
Pour the batter into the hot tin and bake at 350 °F (175 °C) for about 35 minutes.
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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Egg + flourtop 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
- Provides the structure that holds the risen batter together as it bakes.
- Egg
- Binds the batter and helps it set and rise in the oven.
- Milk
- Supplies the liquid that turns the batter into a pourable mixture that steams and puffs.
- Dripping
- Heats in the tin to sizzle on contact with the batter, helping it rise and brown.
The step that matters
Pour the batter into the hot tin. The batter must hit very hot fat so it sizzles and starts to rise immediately. A cold tin lets the batter soak into the fat and bake flat rather than puffing.
“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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