Why it works: Arrowroot and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 159 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓
Arrow Root Pudding
four puddingsIngredients
Directions
Thicken the milk
Boil one quart of milk.
Dissolve one tablespoonful of arrowroot in the milk.
When the milk boils, stir it in as you would starch.
Let the mixture cool.
Make the paste
Mix in a half pound of butter and the same amount of sugar.
Add six eggs beaten very light.
Add the rind of a lemon grated and some grated nutmeg.
Bake
Put the paste in your dish and bake; this quantity will make four puddings.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 4 of 6 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 4 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Milk | 1 cup (244ml) whole | 149 |
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Nutmeg | 1 tsp ground (2.2g) | 12 |
| Arrowroot | not in our table | 0 |
| Pudding | not in our table | 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.
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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Arrowroot + nutmegtop 4% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together159 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
-
Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Milk + nutmegtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together14,685 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
-
Butter + nutmegtop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together24,377 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
-
Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base that the arrowroot thickens and the eggs set into.
- Arrowroot
- Thickens the milk as it heats, giving the pudding a smooth, light body.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and a tender, moist crumb.
- Eggs
- Add structure and richness as they set during baking.
The step that matters
Stirring the arrowroot into the boiling milk. Arrowroot thickens when heated, and it can form lumps if it is not stirred in steadily while the milk is hot. Keeping the mixture moving helps it thicken evenly and smoothly.
Swap the arrowroot
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, butter, egg, nutmeg):
- Potatofits better
- Sweet potatofits better
- Asparagusfits better
- Arrowrootthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against milk, butter, egg, nutmeg. 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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