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 ↓
Waffles
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
Dissolve the butter in warmed milk.
Add the beaten eggs and enough flour to make a stiff batter.
Stir in the yeast and leave to rise.
Cook the waffles
Heat and grease the waffle irons.
Put a spoonful or more of the batter into the waffle iron and close it.
Cook over hot coals.
Turn the waffle after a few minutes.
Cook the other side until golden brown.
Serve
Butter the waffles.
Serve with sugar and powdered cinnamon or cassia.
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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Milk + flourtop 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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Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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
- Flour
- Forms the structure of the batter, which holds the waffle together as it cooks.
- Eggs
- Add structure and richness, helping the waffles set as they cook.
- Yeast
- Ferments the batter so it rises, giving the waffles a light, airy texture.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and flavor, and helps the waffles brown.
- Milk
- Provides moisture that hydrates the flour and forms the batter.
The step that matters
Cook the other side until golden brown. Browning comes from sugars and proteins reacting with heat. Too little cooking leaves the waffle pale and soft, while too much dries it out.
“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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