Why it works: Flour and cinnamon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 17,341 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Batter Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
In a bowl, beat the egg and mix in the sugar and milk.
Add the flour, baking powder, and currants or raisins, mixing until smooth.
Steam and set
Pour the batter into a greased mold.
Steam for 1.5 hours until set.
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 + 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).
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Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Currant + cinnamontop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,099 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
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
- Egg
- Binds the batter and adds structure as it sets.
- Flour
- Forms the main structure of the pudding as the batter sets.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas that lifts the batter and gives it a lighter texture.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and contributes to browning and flavour.
- Milk
- Adds moisture and helps the batter form a smooth, pourable mix.
- Currants or raisins
- Add concentrated sweetness and chewy pockets throughout the pudding.
The step that matters
Steam until set. Steaming gently heats the batter so the egg and flour proteins set into a firm, moist crumb. Stopping too early leaves the centre wet and loose, while overcooking can make the pudding dry and rubbery.
Swap the currant
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar, milk, flour, cinnamon):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits better
- Figfits better
- Currantthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sugar, milk, flour, cinnamon. 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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