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Dessert

Saucer Puddings

A small custard-like pudding baked in saucers, topped with preserve and served with cream.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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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 ↓

Saucer Puddings

Oven, in the book's wordsA quick oven

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.

Prepare the batter

  1. Mix the flour and powdered sugar in a bowl.

  2. Beat the eggs in a separate bowl, then add the milk and mix well.

  3. Combine the egg and milk mixture with the flour and sugar, and mix until smooth.

Bake and assemble

  1. Butter three saucers generously and fill them halfway with the mixture.

  2. Bake in a 400°F (200°C) oven for about 20 minutes.

  3. Once cool enough, remove the puddings from the saucers.

  4. Cut each pudding in half and spread a thin layer of preserve between the halves.

  5. Close the puddings and serve with cream.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  2. Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together124,287 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  3. Flour + milktop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together78,219 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  4. Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together92,116 recipes

    Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).

  5. Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked 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

Eggs
Provide structure and richness as they set in the oven, holding the puddings together.
Flour
Gives the batter body and structure so the puddings hold their shape when baked.
Milk
Adds moisture and softness to the batter, helping it bake tender.
Butter
Greases the saucers so the puddings release cleanly and brown lightly at the edges.

The step that matters

Combine the batter until smooth. Mixing the egg and milk into the flour and sugar until smooth prevents lumps of dry flour, giving an even texture once baked.

“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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