Why it works: Butter and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Cottage Pudding
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. The book gives no cooking times; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
Sift the flour with the baking powder and salt.
Make the batter
In a warm bowl, cream the butter and sugar together.
Beat the eggs until very light, then add them to the butter and sugar mixture.
Stir in the milk, then gently fold in the flour mixture until just combined.
Pour the batter into a buttered pudding dish.
Bake and serve
Bake until light brown, about 25-30 minutes.
Serve with hot lemon 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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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + sugartop 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).
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
- Flour
- Forms the structure of the cake-like pudding as it sets in the oven.
- Eggs
- Add structure and lift, and help the pudding set and rise.
- Butter
- Adds richness and tenderness to the crumb.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the pudding and helps it brown lightly in the oven.
- Milk
- Provides moisture that hydrates the flour and loosens the batter.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the batter, making the pudding rise and turn light.
The step that matters
Folding in the flour mixture. Gentle folding keeps the air beaten into the eggs and creamed butter, so the pudding stays light. Overmixing develops gluten in the flour, which makes the texture tough and dense.
“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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