Why it works: Cinnamon and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,950 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓
Blackberry 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.
Make the batter
Heat the milk in a saucepan until boiling.
Add the butter, flour, sugar, and cinnamon, stirring constantly until the mixture pulls away from the sides of the pan.
Remove from heat and let cool.
Once cool, add the egg yolks one at a time, mixing well.
Fold in the stiffly beaten egg whites gently.
Assemble and bake
Grease a 2-quart baking dish and pour in the stewed blackberries.
Cover the blackberries with the pudding mixture.
Bake in a moderate 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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Cinnamon + lemontop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together7,950 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Flour + cinnamontop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,341 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Milk + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,655 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
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Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together30,779 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Sugar and cinnamon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 30,779 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
- Yolks enrich the batter and whites, folded in whipped, lighten it and help it set as it bakes.
- Flour
- Starch thickens the milk mixture into a stable base that holds the pudding together.
- Butter
- Fat adds richness and a tender, smooth texture to the batter.
- Milk
- Liquid hydrates the flour and sugar, forming the custard-like body of the pudding.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the batter and balances the tartness of the blackberries.
The step that matters
Fold in the egg whites gently. Whipped egg whites trap air that gives the pudding its lift. Vigorous stirring deflates them, leaving a dense, flat result.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, flour, butter, sugar, cinnamon, egg):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits better
- Figfits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against milk, flour, butter, sugar, cinnamon, egg. 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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