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 ↓
Whortleberry Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
Combine the molasses, whortleberries, milk, baking soda, and flour in a large bowl and mix until well combined.
Steam and serve
Pour the mixture into a greased pudding mold.
Steam for 2 hours.
Serve with hard 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.
-
Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Molasses + flourtop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,429 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
-
Molasses + milktop 21% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together7,243 recipes
Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
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
- Molasses
- Adds sweetness, dark color, deep flavor, and moisture to the pudding.
- Whortleberries
- Add fruit flavor, moisture, and color throughout the pudding.
- Milk
- Adds moisture and helps form a soft, tender batter.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic molasses to release gas, helping the pudding rise.
- Flour
- Provides structure, which sets as the pudding cooks.
The step that matters
Steaming the pudding. The mold must be sealed and the steam kept gentle and steady so the pudding cooks evenly through. Steam carries heat to the batter, and the flour and starch set as it cooks, so uneven heat or water entering the mold can leave the center wet or heavy.
“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.
More blackberry pudding recipes
You might also like
Molasses Cookies96 recipes
Molasses Cake90 recipes
Molasses Sponge Cake9 recipes
White Cake431 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.