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 ↓
Cherry Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
Beat the eggs and sugar together in a bowl.
Add the milk and mix well.
Fold in the cherries, flour, and baking powder until combined.
Steam
Place the mixture in a steamer or a closed boiler.
Steam for 2 hours until cooked through.
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.
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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Flour + milktop 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).
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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Egg + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Sugar + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 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
- Flour
- Provides the main structure that holds the pudding together as it cooks.
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and set during cooking to give a firm, tender body.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the pudding brown slightly and stay tender.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas during cooking, helping the pudding rise and become light.
- Milk
- Adds moisture and liquid that hydrates the flour and keeps the pudding soft.
- Cherries
- Add fruit flavor and juicy pockets that contrast with the plain batter.
The step that matters
Steam at a steady simmer for the full time. Steam heat cooks the batter gently and evenly. If the water boils dry or drops too low, the pudding cooks unevenly and may stay raw in the middle. Check the water level during the steaming time.
“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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