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
The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the batter
In a bowl, combine the flour and salt, making a well in the center.
Break in the eggs and gradually mix in the flour from the sides.
Add the milk slowly until a thick, smooth batter forms.
Beat the batter well for 10 minutes, then add the remaining milk.
Cover and let the batter rest for at least 1 hour.
Bake and serve
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C) and grease a pudding tin with dripping.
Place the tin in the oven to heat the dripping thoroughly.
Beat the batter again before pouring it into the hot tin.
Bake for about 40 minutes until set and well browned.
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).
-
Milk + eggtop 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
- Bind the batter and provide structure as the proteins set during baking.
- Flour
- Forms the gluten network that gives the batter body and helps the pudding rise and hold its shape.
- Milk
- Hydrates the flour and steam from its water helps lift the pudding as it bakes.
- Dripping
- Hot fat in the tin sears the batter on contact, helping it rise and brown.
The step that matters
Heating the dripping in the tin before pouring the batter. The batter must hit a very hot, fatted tin so it sears and starts to rise immediately. A cold tin lets the batter soak in and spread instead of puffing up.
“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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