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 ↓
Boiled Batter Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Make the batter
Beat the eggs, flour, and milk together thoroughly.
Cook and serve
Pour the mixture into a well-floured cloth or a rinsed mold.
Boil for 1 hour.
Serve with cold sauce.
For a firmer pudding, use more flour and less egg, and boil longer.
Alternatively, bake in an oven at 350°F (175°C) for 45 minutes.
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.
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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Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Egg + milktop 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
- Set the pudding and give it structure as they cook.
- Flour
- Thickens the batter and gives the pudding body and a firmer texture.
- Milk
- Provides the liquid that hydrates the flour and makes the batter pourable.
The step that matters
Pour the mixture into a well-floured cloth or a rinsed mold. A well-floured cloth or rinsed mold keeps the batter from sticking as it sets, so the pudding releases cleanly. Flour forms a thin barrier, and rinsing leaves a film of water that helps prevent adhesion.
“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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