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 ↓
Batter Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
In a basin, mix the flour and baking powder.
Slowly add the milk to the flour mixture, stirring to avoid lumps.
Beat the eggs well and mix them into the batter.
Let the batter rest for three-quarters of an hour.
Cook
Boil the batter in a well-floured pudding mold.
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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Milk + flourtop 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).
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Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, 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
- Flour
- Provides the starch and structure that sets the batter as it cooks.
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and add structure and richness to the cooked pudding.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the batter, helping the pudding rise and become light.
- Milk
- Hydrates the flour and supplies moisture for a tender, pourable batter.
The step that matters
Adding the milk slowly while stirring. Flour clumps when liquid hits it all at once, and the outer layer of each clump hydrates before the inside can. Adding milk gradually and stirring keeps the batter smooth and evenly thickened.
“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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