Name: A Very Useful Ba Tter for Muffins, Etc
Ingredients: 2 eggs; 2 teaspoons baking powder; 2 cups milk; 2 cups flour; ¼ teaspoon salt; 2 tablespoons melted lard or butter

Why it works: Milk and butter 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 ↓

A Very Useful Ba Tter for Muffins, Etc

Oven, in the book's wordsA quick oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Make the batter

Beat the egg whites and yolks separately.
Mix the milk with the egg yolks.
Combine the baking powder and flour, then stir in the milk and egg mixture with the salt.
Add the melted lard or butter, stirring until smooth.
Fold in the beaten egg whites until well combined.

Bake

For muffins, bake in greased muffin rings on a hot, greased griddle.
For oven muffins, bake in gem pans or greased rings for 15 to 20 minutes at 400°F (200°C).
For a round cake, bake in one round tin for 25 to 35 minutes at 400°F (200°C).
For Yorkshire pudding, add more milk and bake in a greased roasting pan for 25 to 40 minutes.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together81,283 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together124,287 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together78,219 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together106,462 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together118,967 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

Flour and butter 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

Eggs: Whites beaten separately and folded in give the batter lift and an airy, light texture.
Baking powder: Releases gas when heated, helping the batter rise and become light.
Flour: Provides the structure that holds the batter together as it sets.
Milk: Adds moisture and hydrates the flour to form the batter.
Lard or butter: Adds fat for tenderness and a rich flavour in the finished bake.

The step that matters

Folding in the beaten egg whites. Whites hold air only while whole; stirring them in hard knocks out air and flattens the batter. Fold gently so the batter rises well in the oven.

“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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A Very Useful Ba Tter for Muffins, Etc