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 ↓
Custard Pudding Without Eggs
Ingredients
Directions
Make the custard
Mix the flour and custard powder with a few tablespoonfuls of milk to form a smooth, thin paste.
Boil the remaining milk with sugar and butter.
When the mixture is quite boiling, pour it into the powder in the basin.
Bake and serve
Stir briskly, then pour the mixture into a greased pie dish and brown slightly in the oven.
Before serving, decorate the top with apricot or other jam.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 2 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Milk | 1 cup (244ml) whole | 149 |
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.
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Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, 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
- Custard powder
- Starch thickens the hot milk and sets the pudding into a soft custard.
- Flour
- Adds body and helps thicken the custard alongside the custard powder.
- Milk
- Provides the liquid base and moisture that the thickened custard is made from.
- Sugar (in the method)
- Adds sweetness to the custard.
- Butter (in the method)
- Adds fat, giving the custard a richer flavour and smoother mouthfeel.
The step that matters
Pour the boiling milk into the smooth paste and stir briskly. Starch in the custard powder and flour needs full heat to swell and thicken. Pouring in boiling liquid and stirring briskly spreads the starch evenly so lumps do not form.
“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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