Why it works: Butter and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Cocoanut Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Line a pudding dish with the pastry shell.
Make the batter
In a bowl, cream together the butter and sugar.
Beat the eggs until very light, then mix with the milk.
Add the egg mixture and flour alternately to the creamed butter and sugar.
Stir in the lemon juice, shredded coconut, and baking powder.
Bake and serve
Pour the mixture into the lined dish and decorate the edge.
Bake for 45 minutes until set and golden.
Serve with fruit syrup or sauce.
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.
-
Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Coconut + milktop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,648 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Butter + coconuttop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,467 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Lemon + coconuttop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,233 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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
- Beaten eggs add structure and richness, helping the pudding set as it bakes.
- Butter
- Creamed with sugar, it adds tenderness and a rich, moist crumb.
- Flour
- Provides the structure that holds the pudding together as it sets.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas during baking, helping the pudding rise and become lighter.
- Shredded coconut
- Adds flavour, chewy texture, and some moisture to the pudding.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the pudding and helps create a tender texture when creamed with butter.
The step that matters
Adding the egg mixture and flour alternately. Adding the wet and dry ingredients in alternating portions helps the batter emulsify and stay smooth. Adding all the liquid at once can curdle it and lead to a dense, uneven texture.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, sugar, flour, coconut, egg, milk):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits better
- Figfits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, sugar, flour, coconut, egg, milk. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“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.
More coconut pudding recipes
You might also like
Lemon Cake228 recipes
Lemon Ice147 recipes
Lemon Sherbet103 recipes
Lemon Custard64 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.