Why it works: Cream and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Custard Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Mix the cream, beaten eggs, flour, grated nutmeg, salt, and sugar in a bowl.
Butter a cloth and pour the batter into it.
Boil and serve
Tie the cloth securely and place it in a saucepan of boiling water.
Boil for 1.5 hours.
Serve with melted butter as a 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.
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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Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Flour + nutmegtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,623 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Cream + nutmegtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,920 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Flour and butter 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 custard as they cook, giving it structure and body.
- Cream
- Adds richness and moisture, giving the custard a soft, smooth texture.
- Flour
- Thickens the batter and helps it hold together while it cooks.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness to the custard.
- Nutmeg
- Adds warm aroma to the custard.
The step that matters
Tying the cloth securely. If the cloth is loose, boiling water can seep in and soak the custard, making it watery instead of firm and sliceable. A tight seal keeps the batter moist and evenly cooked as the eggs set.
“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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