Why it works: Butter and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Deawn Butter
Ingredients
Directions
Rub the flour into the butter until well mixed.
Place the mixture in a saucepan with the milk or water.
Set the saucepan in a dish of boiling water.
Shake it well until the butter melts and is nearly boiling.
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.
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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked 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
- Butter
- Provides fat and richness, and melts to form the smooth sauce base.
- All-purpose flour
- Thickens the melted butter slightly and helps keep it from separating.
- Milk or water
- Adds moisture so the butter emulsifies into a smooth, pourable liquid.
The step that matters
Shaking until the butter melts and nearly boils. Gentle, constant shaking keeps the butter, flour and liquid blended as the fat melts. Stopping early leaves lumps, while overheating can cause the butter to separate and turn oily.
“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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