Why it works: Wheat and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,418 recipes. Both carry (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal, which smells cucumber, melon. The science ↓
Yorkshire Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare the batter
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
Thoroughly beat the eggs in a bowl.
Make a batter by mixing the eggs with the flour and milk, then season with pepper and salt.
Bake and serve
Well butter a shallow tin and pour in the batter.
Cut the remaining butter into small pieces and scatter them over the batter.
Bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown.
Serve with vegetables, potatoes, and sauce.
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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Wheat + milktop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,418 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).
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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Wheat + buttertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,002 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Wheat + peppertop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together984 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Provide structure and bind the batter, and help the pudding rise and set as it bakes.
- Wheat meal
- Forms the gluten-based structure that holds the risen batter together as it bakes.
- Milk
- Adds moisture and liquid so the batter pours and steams into a light, tender crumb.
- Butter
- Adds fat that encourages browning and a rich flavour in the hot tin.
The step that matters
Heat the fat before pouring the batter. The tin and butter must be very hot when the batter goes in. The sudden heat sets the outside quickly so the batter rises sharply instead of spreading flat and greasy.
“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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