Why it works: Rice and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,645 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓
Eioe Buns
about 8 to 10 bunsIngredients
Directions
Prepare
In a bowl, combine ¼ pound of ground rice and ½ teaspoon of baking powder.
Add ¼ pound of powdered sugar and 2 ounces of butter, mixing well with a wooden spoon.
Break in 2 eggs and beat the mixture lightly.
Grease small tins or patty pans with butter.
Bake and serve
Fill the tins two-thirds full with the mixture; this will make about 8 to 10 buns.
If you don't have small tins, use a greased cake tin instead.
Bake in a 400°F (200°C) oven for 15 minutes.
After baking, turn the buns out of the tins and let them cool against a plate.
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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Rice + buttertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,645 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Rice + sugartop 26% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together8,744 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Ground rice
- Provides the bulk of the structure, giving the buns a light, tender crumb.
- Eggs
- Bind the mixture and add structure and moisture as they set in the oven.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and a tender texture.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas when heated, helping the buns rise and turn light.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the buns brown as they bake.
The step that matters
Beat the mixture lightly after adding the eggs. Overbeating can incorporate too much air, which may cause the buns to rise rapidly and then collapse, leaving a dense texture. Keeping the beating light helps the batter stay stable while it bakes.
“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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