Why it works: Flour and arrowroot match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 525 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Cherry 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.
Prepare and bake
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a bowl, mix the egg, butter, chopped glace cherries, sugar, flour, and baking powder until well combined.
Pour the mixture into a greased timbale mold.
Bake in the oven for about 25-30 minutes.
Finish and serve
Once baked, turn out the pudding and coat it with jam sauce thickened with arrowroot.
Decorate with rings of cherry angelica or chopped pistachio.
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 + arrowroottop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together525 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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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).
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
- Egg
- Binds the mixture and gives the pudding its set structure as it bakes.
- Butter
- Adds richness and a tender crumb to the pudding.
- Glace cherries
- Provide sweetness and chewy fruit pieces throughout the pudding.
- Flour
- Forms the body of the pudding and gives it structure as it sets.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas during baking so the pudding rises and becomes light.
- Arrowroot
- Thickens the jam sauce to a glossy coating that clings to the pudding.
The step that matters
Turning out the pudding after baking. Turning out too soon can cause the pudding to break or collapse, since the structure needs time to firm as it cools slightly. Greasing the mold well helps it release cleanly.
Swap the arrowroot
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, butter, sugar, flour, sauce):
- Shallotfits better
- Chivefits about as well
- Arrowrootthe original
- Sweet potatofits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, butter, sugar, 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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