Why it works: Flour and milk 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 ↓
Prune Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the prunes
Scald a pound of prunes.
Cover the prunes and let them swell in hot water until soft.
Drain the prunes and extract the stones.
Spread the prunes on a large dish and dredge them with flour.
Make the batter
Take one jill (or eight large tablespoonfuls) from a quart of rich milk and stir in gradually eight spoonfuls of sifted flour.
Mix to a smooth batter, pressing out all lumps with the back of the spoon.
Beat six eggs very lightly.
Stir the eggs by degrees into the remainder of the milk, alternately with the batter.
Add the prunes one at a time, stirring the whole very hard.
Boil and serve
Tie the pudding in a cloth that has been previously dipped in boiling water and then dredged with flour.
Leave room for it to swell, but secure it firmly so that no water can get in.
Put the pudding into a pot of boiling water and boil for two hours.
Serve hot, not taking it out of the pot until a moment before it is wanted, with cream sauce or with butter, sugar, and nutmeg beaten together, served in a little tureen.
A similar pudding may be made with whole raisins.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 3 of 4 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 3 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Milk | 1 cup (244ml) whole | 149 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Prune | 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.
-
Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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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).
Flour and milk 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
- Bind the batter and help the pudding set as it cooks.
- Flour
- Thickens the milk and batter so the pudding holds its shape.
- Prunes
- Provide the main fruit, softened by soaking and sweet in the finished pudding.
- Rich milk
- Supplies liquid and richness to the batter.
The step that matters
Securing the cloth. If the cloth is not tied firmly, boiling water can seep in and make the pudding soggy. Leaving room for swelling is needed because the batter rises as it cooks.
“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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