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 ↓
Little Mary's Cup Puddings
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the liquid
Grate the rind of the lemon into the sugar.
Mix the lemon juice with the cold water.
Dissolve the sugar in the lemon-water mixture over low heat.
Add the butter and wine, and melt the butter completely.
Let the mixture cool.
Make the batter
In a bowl, mix the flour with the beaten eggs until smooth.
Gradually add the cooled liquid to the flour mixture, stirring well.
Stir the batter over low heat for 3 minutes.
Bake and serve
Butter some cups and fill them three-quarters full with the batter.
Bake in a preheated oven at 400°F (200°C) for about 30 minutes.
Turn the puddings out of the cups before serving and dust with powdered sugar.
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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Butter + sherrytop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,505 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
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Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Lemon + buttertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,227 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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
- Set the batter and give the puddings their structure as they bake.
- Flour
- Provides the body that holds the puddings together after baking.
- Butter
- Adds richness and tenderness and carries flavour through the batter.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the pudding and helps dissolve the lemon flavour evenly.
- Lemon
- Its rind and juice supply the bright citrus aroma and acidity.
The step that matters
Let the mixture cool before adding it to the flour and eggs. Adding hot liquid to beaten eggs can scramble them and cause lumps, so the batter may not bake smooth and set evenly.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, butter, sherry, flour, egg):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits better
- Figfits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, butter, sherry, flour, 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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