Name: Light Fruit Pudding
Ingredients: one-half cupful of butter until creamy; one cupful of milk; a cupful of citron thinly sliced; a cupful of flour; two table- spoonfuls of sugar; two eggs well beaten; two cupfuls of flour mixed; three teaspoon- fuls of baking powder

Why it works: Butter and milk 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 ↓

Light Fruit Pudding

Ingredients

one-half cupful of butter until creamy
one cupful of milk
a cupful of citron thinly sliced
a cupful of flour
two table- spoonfuls of sugar
two eggs well beaten
two cupfuls of flour mixed
three teaspoon- fuls of baking powder

Directions

Make the batter

Cream the butter until creamy, then add the sugar, eggs, milk, flour, and baking powder.
Add the raisins and citron, dredging the fruit with flour.

Steam

Turn the mixture into a buttered melon mould, tie down the cover, and steam for one and one-half hours.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

833Calories

27 gProtein

26 gFat

120 gCarbs

What these numbers assume: 5 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

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. See the original page.

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.

Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together81,283 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together124,287 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together78,219 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together92,116 recipes

Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together106,462 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Butter and flour 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

Flour: Provides the structure that holds the pudding together as it sets.
Eggs: Bind the batter and help it set firm and tender when steamed.
Baking powder: Releases gas in the batter, helping the pudding rise and become light.
Butter: Adds richness and a tender texture to the crumb.
Milk: Adds moisture and loosens the batter to a pourable consistency.
Sugar: Adds sweetness and balances the flavour of the fruit.

The step that matters

Dredge the fruit with flour. Flour coats the citron so it is less likely to sink to the bottom of the batter. This helps the fruit stay spread through the pudding as it steams and sets.

“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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Light Fruit Pudding