Why it works: Milk and flour 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 ↓
Batter Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Make and boil the pudding
Combine one quart of milk, twelve tablespoons of flour, nine eggs, and a teaspoon of salt.
Beat the yolks thoroughly.
Stir in the flour and add the milk slowly.
Beat the whites of the eggs to a froth, and add the last thing.
Put in a tin pudding mould, having a tight cover, and boil for two hours.
The mould should not be full as the pudding will swell.
The water must not stop boiling.
Eat with liquid sauce.
Second pudding and sauce
Combine three cups of flour, one of suet, one of milk, one of molasses, two of raisins, salt and spice to your taste, and one teaspoon saleratus.
Boil in a bag for three hours.
For sauce, combine one cup of sugar, one-half of butter, and one egg.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 5 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Milk | 1 cup (244ml) whole | 149 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
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.
-
Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
-
Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Milk + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Milk and flour 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
- Eggs
- Add structure and richness, with the whites beaten to a froth for lightness.
- Flour
- Forms the body of the batter and sets as the pudding cooks.
- Milk
- Supplies the liquid that turns the flour into a batter.
- Saleratus
- Acts as a leavening agent that helps the pudding rise.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness to the sauce.
The step that matters
Keep the water boiling throughout. The pudding cooks by the heat of the boiling water surrounding the mould. If the boil stops, the temperature drops and cooking stalls, so the pudding may turn out undercooked and heavy.
“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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