Why it works: Milk and butter 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.
Prepare the batter
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
In a bowl, mix the egg, sugar, and milk until well combined.
Add the flour, melted butter, cream of tartar, and baking soda. Stir until smooth.
Bake and serve
Pour the batter into a greased baking dish.
Bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown.
Serve hot with your choice of 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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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Sugar + creamtop 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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Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 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
- Provides the structure that holds the cake-like crumb together as it bakes.
- Egg
- Binds the batter and adds structure and richness as it sets in the oven.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic cream of tartar to release gas that lifts the pudding.
- Cream of tartar
- Acidifies the batter so it reacts with baking soda, helping the pudding rise.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the top brown as the pudding bakes.
- Melted butter
- Adds fat for tenderness and a rich flavor in the crumb.
The step that matters
Bake until golden brown. Baking soda and cream of tartar lift the batter quickly, so it should go into the hot oven right after mixing. Watching for golden brown shows the sugars have browned and the crumb has 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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