Why it works: Flour and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 78,219 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Puff Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Make the batter
Mix flour and baking powder in a bowl.
Gradually stir in the milk.
Add the beaten egg yolks and salt.
Fold in the beaten egg whites gently.
Bake and serve
Pour the mixture into a baking dish.
Bake at 400°F (200°C) for 30 minutes.
Serve with hot sauce.
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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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Flour and milk barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 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 whites
- Whipped to stiff foam, they trap air and lift the pudding as it bakes.
- Egg yolks
- Enrich the batter and help it set into a tender custard-like texture.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas when heated, helping the pudding rise and become light.
- Flour
- Provides structure so the batter holds its shape as it sets.
- Milk
- Adds moisture and liquid that the flour and eggs set into a soft body.
The step that matters
Fold in the beaten egg whites gently. Stiff egg white foam holds air bubbles that make the pudding rise. Vigorous stirring knocks out that air, so the pudding bakes flat and dense instead of light.
“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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