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 ↓
Quaking Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Make the custard
Scald the cream and let it cool slightly.
In a bowl, mix the beaten eggs, flour, nutmeg, and sugar.
Combine the egg mixture with the cream.
Cook and serve
Tie the mixture tightly in a buttered cloth.
Boil for 1 hour.
Carefully turn out the pudding and serve with melted butter, wine, and sugar.
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
- Cream
- Provides richness and moisture, giving the pudding its body and soft texture.
- Eggs
- Set when heated, giving the pudding structure and a tender, custard-like texture.
- Flour
- Thickens the custard and helps it hold together when cooked.
The step that matters
Tying the mixture in the cloth. The cloth must be tied tightly so the mixture holds its shape while boiling. If it is loose, water can seep in and the pudding can turn out watery or fall apart.
Swap the nutmeg
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cream, egg, flour, sugar, butter, wine):
- Nutmegthe original
- Cinnamonfits about as well
- Tarragonfits less well
- Capersfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against cream, egg, flour, sugar, butter, wine. 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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