Puff Puddings

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.

1. Flour + almondtop 5% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together8,673 recipes

   Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

2. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together41,516 recipes

   Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

3. Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together43,450 recipes

   Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

4. Butter + almondtop 11% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together9,245 recipes

   Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).

5. Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairs
   Smell alikelow
   Cooked together124,287 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

Egg whites whipped into the batter add lightness, and yolks add richness and set the custard.

Flour

Starch thickens the batter so it holds its shape and gives the pudding structure.

Butter

Fat adds richness and tenderness and helps the pudding brown at the edges.

Cream or milk

Liquid adds moisture and softness and helps the batter bake into a custard-like texture.

Sugar

Sweetness balances the richness and helps the top brown as it bakes.

The step that matters

Swap the currant

The recipe marks currant as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, flour, egg, sugar, cream, almond, wine):

1. Vanillafits better
2. Raisinfits better
3. Figfits better
4. Currantthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, flour, egg, sugar, cream, almond, wine. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.