Why it works: Butter and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Cassel Puddings with Hard Sauce
six puddingsIngredients
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.
Make the batter
Cream together ½ cup butter and ½ cup sugar.
Grate the lemon rind into the mixture.
Beat the egg whites until stiff and the yolks until creamy.
Add the yolks to the butter and sugar mixture, then stir in the flour.
Gently fold in the beaten egg whites.
Bake and serve
Pour the mixture into six buttered cups or tins, filling them two-thirds full.
Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) for about 30 minutes, testing with a skewer at 20 minutes.
Once done, turn the puddings out of the cups and serve with hard sauce.
Make the hard sauce
For the hard sauce, mix 2 ounces butter, 4 ounces sugar, and the juice of half a lemon until well combined.
Shape the sauce into a decorative form and keep it cold until serving.
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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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + saucetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,147 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Butter + saucetop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together15,338 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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
- Whipped whites trap air for lightness, and the yolks add richness and structure to the batter.
- Butter
- Creamed with sugar, it traps air and adds fat for a tender, rich crumb.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the pudding and helps cream the butter to a light, aerated base.
- Flour
- Provides the starch structure that sets the puddings as they bake.
The step that matters
Folding in the egg whites. Whipped egg whites hold the batter's air. Stirring them vigorously deflates the foam and makes the puddings dense, so fold gently until just combined.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar, butter, flour, sauce):
- Raisinfits better
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits about as well
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sugar, butter, flour, sauce. 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.
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