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
Make the batter
In a bowl, mix the flour with the cold water until smooth.
Gradually add the milk, stirring continuously until well combined.
Bake
Pour the batter into a preheated dripping pan and bake until puffed and golden brown.
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).
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
- All-purpose flour
- Provides the starch and gluten that form the batter's structure as it sets.
- Whole milk
- Adds liquid and fat, contributing to a tender interior and golden browning.
- Cold water
- Hydrates the flour and helps form a smooth, lump-free batter base.
The step that matters
Pour the batter into a preheated dripping pan. The hot fat in the pan must be very hot when the batter goes in. The sudden heat creates steam that lifts the batter and helps it puff up rather than spreading flat.
“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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