Why it works: Milk and flour 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
Beat the eggs until very light.
Add salt and milk, mixing well.
Pour ¾ cup of this mixture into the flour and stir to a smooth paste.
Add the remaining mixture and beat well.
Bake and serve
Bake in a pan under the roasting beef for 45 minutes.
Cut into squares and serve as a garnish for the beef.
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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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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Egg + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Milk and flour 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
- Eggs
- Provide structure and lift, setting the batter as it bakes.
- Flour
- Forms the gluten framework that gives the pudding its body.
- Milk
- Adds moisture that turns to steam, helping the pudding rise.
The step that matters
Keep the batter loose and beat it well before baking. Batter that is too thick or under-beaten will not rise well. Beating incorporates air and hydrates the flour evenly, while a smooth, pourable batter lets steam lift the pudding in a hot pan.
“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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