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 ↓
Velvet Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Make the custard
Beat five eggs lightly with one teacup of sugar.
Mix four tablespoons of corn starch with a little cold milk and add to the eggs and sugar.
Boil three pints of milk, pour it over the egg mixture, and stir while boiling until thick.
Flavor with vanilla and pour into a baking dish.
Top and brown
Beat the whites of the eggs with a teacupful of sugar.
Pour the beaten whites over the top and return to the oven to brown.
Make the second mixture
Take the yolks of two eggs, one cup of sugar, and one tablespoonful of butter, and beat all together.
Add a cup of boiling milk.
Put it on the fire, let it come to a boil, and flavor with vanilla.
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 |
| 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.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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).
-
Milk + corntop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,955 recipes
Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).
-
Butter + corntop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,345 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
-
Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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 as they set, while whites form a light topping.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base of the custard and gives it body and creaminess.
- Corn starch
- Thickens the milk mixture when it is heated to a boil.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps stabilise the beaten egg whites.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and a smoother mouthfeel.
The step that matters
Stir the custard while it boils until thick. Corn starch only thickens fully once the mixture reaches a boil. Stopping early leaves it runny, and stirring constantly prevents lumps and scorching on the bottom of the pan.
“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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