Why it works: Milk and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Muffins No. 2
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
Combine 1 cup of milk, 1½ cups of flour, eggs, salt, butter, and cream of tartar in a bowl; beat until smooth.
Gradually add the remaining milk and flour.
Mix the baking soda with a little flour and add it to the batter.
Bake
Drop the batter into hot tins.
Bake in a preheated oven at 400°F (200°C) until golden.
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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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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
- Provides the structure that holds the muffins together as they bake.
- Eggs
- Add structure and richness, helping the batter set and bind.
- Milk
- Adds moisture and hydrates the flour so the batter can form gluten.
- Cream of tartar
- Acidifies the batter so it reacts with baking soda to help the muffins rise.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acid in the batter to produce gas that lifts the muffins.
- Butter
- Adds fat for tenderness and flavor.
The step that matters
Adding the baking soda. Baking soda must be mixed evenly into the batter so it reacts with the acid and lifts the muffins uniformly. Clumps can leave bitter, uneven pockets, and the rise happens quickly, so the batter should go into the hot tins promptly.
“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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