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 ↓
Orange Pudding. No. 1
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the custard base
Mix ground rice with a little cold milk.
Heat the remaining milk in a double boiler until boiling.
Stir in the mixed rice.
Stir the mixture for 5 minutes.
Add butter.
Let the mixture cool.
Beat together sugar, yolks of 8 eggs, and whites of 4 eggs.
Grate the rinds.
Squeeze the juice of the oranges into the egg mixture.
Combine the egg mixture with the cooled mixture.
Bake and top
Line a 3-quart pudding dish with pudding paste.
Pour the mixture into the lined dish.
Bake in a 350°F (175°C) oven for 40 minutes.
Beat the remaining 4 egg whites to stiff peaks, gradually adding powdered sugar.
Cover the pudding with the meringue.
Return to the oven for 10 minutes with the door open.
Let cool completely before serving.
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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Milk + ricetop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,374 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Orange + ricetop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,067 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).
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Milk + orangetop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,696 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
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Butter + ricetop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,645 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Yolks thicken the custard and whites build the stiff meringue topping.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base of the custard, which sets as the eggs cook.
- Ground rice
- Thickens the milk mixture so the filling holds its body.
- Butter
- Adds richness and a soft, tender texture to the filling.
- Orange juice
- Provides acidity and bright citrus flavour to the custard.
- Granulated sugar
- Sweetens the custard and helps stabilise the beaten egg whites.
The step that matters
Beating the egg whites to stiff peaks. Whites must be fully whipped and sugar added gradually so the meringue holds its shape and browns evenly. Under-whipped or greasy whites will weep or collapse on the pudding.
Swap the orange
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, egg, butter, sugar, rice):
- Vanillafits better
- Coconutfits better
- Figfits better
- Orangethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against milk, egg, butter, sugar, rice. 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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