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 ↓
Orange Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare the oranges
Layer the sliced oranges and ½ cup of sugar in a dish until all oranges are used.
Make the custard
Combine milk, flour, egg yolks, and remaining sugar in a saucepan.
Cook over medium heat until thickened.
Pour the custard over the oranges.
Top and bake
Beat the egg whites until stiff.
Gradually add the remaining sugar and frost the pudding.
Brown the pudding in a 350°F (175°C) oven.
Serve cold.
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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Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Orange + milktop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,696 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
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Milk + eggtop 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
- Oranges
- Provide the fruit flavor and bright acidity that contrasts with the sweet custard.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the oranges, the custard, and the meringue topping.
- Flour
- Thickens the milk mixture into a custard.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base of the custard, giving it body and softness.
- Egg yolks
- Enrich and thicken the custard as it cooks.
- Egg whites
- Whip into a stiff foam that forms the frosting and browns in the oven.
The step that matters
Cook the custard until thickened. Flour starch thickens only when the mixture is heated enough to gelatinize it, and egg yolks can curdle if overheated. Cook over medium heat, stirring, until it coats a spoon, so the custard sets smoothly rather than staying thin or turning grainy.
Swap the orange
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, flour, milk, egg):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits better
- Figfits better
- Orangethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, flour, milk, egg. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“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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