Why it works: Flour and milk 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 ↓
Popover Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the batter
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
Beat the egg thoroughly in a bowl.
Mix the flour and egg together to form a smooth paste.
Stir in the sweet milk and salt.
Bake and serve
Grease tea cups well and fill them half full with the mixture.
Bake for 15 minutes.
Serve immediately with rich sauce.
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 + milktop 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).
Flour and milk 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
- Egg
- Provides structure and sets as it bakes, helping the batter rise.
- Flour
- Gives the batter body, forming a paste that holds its shape as it bakes.
- Sweet milk
- Adds liquid that turns to steam in the oven, lifting the batter and aiding browning.
The step that matters
Fill the cups half full. The batter needs room to rise. Overfilling can spill over and make a messy, dense result, while the steam from the liquid is what lifts the batter as 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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