Why it works: Flour and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Crepes [Pancakes]
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
Dilute the flour with water until thin enough.
Add the eggs, brandy, and salt to the batter until it reaches a proper consistency.
Cook and serve
Heat butter or lard in a frying pan.
Pour a spoonful of batter into the pan and shake to thinly cover the bottom.
Fry until done, then turn lightly and serve.
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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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Brandy + buttertop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,127 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Egg + brandytop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,340 recipes
Shared aroma: acetoin (butter, cream).
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
- Flour
- Forms the structure of the thin batter once diluted with water.
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and help set the crepe structure as it cooks.
- Butter or lard
- Fats that keep the crepe from sticking and add browning and flavour.
The step that matters
Shaking the batter to thinly cover the pan. Batter spread too thick cooks up heavy and doughy rather than thin and delicate. A quick tilt and shake spreads it evenly so the crepe sets thin and cooks through.
“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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