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 ↓
Sponge Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point. The book gives no cooking times either; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare the batter
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a large bowl, beat the eggs and sugar until light and fluffy.
Melt the butter and mix it with the milk.
Combine the flour, cream of tartar, and baking soda in another bowl.
Gradually add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture, alternating with the milk mixture.
Pour the batter into a greased baking dish.
Bake and serve
Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Serve hot with cream or pudding 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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Butter + flourtop 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).
Butter and flour 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
- Beaten with sugar to trap air, giving the pudding a light, airy structure.
- Flour
- Provides the main structure that sets as the batter bakes.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the pudding and helps the beaten eggs hold their airy texture.
- Butter
- Adds fat for a tender crumb and rich flavor.
- Milk
- Adds moisture that hydrates the flour and helps form the batter.
- Cream of tartar
- Acidic leavener that reacts with baking soda to help the pudding rise.
The step that matters
Alternating the dry ingredients with the milk mixture. Adding the flour in portions alongside the liquid keeps the batter smooth and prevents lumps. Mixing too vigorously once flour is in can overdevelop gluten and make the pudding dense and tough.
“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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