Why it works: Flour and almond are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,673 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Almond Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Boil the milk.
Let the milk cool.
Beat the eggs lightly with the flour.
Blanch the almonds.
Pound the almonds into a paste with the lemon essence.
Make the custard
Melt the butter in the milk.
Add the pounded sugar and mix well.
Bake
Pour the mixture into buttered cups or small molds.
Bake at 350°F (175°C) until set.
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 + almondtop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,673 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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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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Almond + lemontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,655 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Almond + buttertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,245 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 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
- Eggs
- Set the custard into a soft, sliceable structure as their proteins coagulate with heat.
- Flour
- Thickens the custard and gives it body so it holds its shape.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base of the custard and adds richness and softness.
- Almonds
- Contribute nutty aroma and a fine, tender texture when pounded into a paste.
- Butter
- Adds fat for a smoother mouthfeel and richer flavour.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the pudding and helps keep the custard tender.
The step that matters
Bake at 350°F (175°C) until set.. Egg proteins set as they heat, so the pudding firms up. Overbaking pushes them too far, making the texture grainy, rubbery, or watery as liquid separates out. Pull it once the centre just holds.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, egg, flour, almond, butter, sugar):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits better
- Figfits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against milk, egg, flour, almond, butter, sugar. 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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