Why it works: Flour and raisin match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,075 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Batter 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.
Make the batter
In a saucepan, combine the flour, salt, and grated nutmeg.
Mix in the milk until smooth, then stir in the beaten eggs.
Cook
Pour the batter into a well-buttered basin or mold.
Tie the basin tightly with a cloth and boil for 2½ hours.
Alternatively, bake in a preheated oven at 350°F (175°C) for 45 minutes.
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 + raisintop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together9,075 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Nutmeg + raisintop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,377 recipes
Shared aroma: alpha-terpineol (lilac, floral).
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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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Flour + nutmegtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,623 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 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
- Eggs
- Set the batter as they cook, giving the pudding its firm, tender structure.
- Flour
- Provides the starch and structure that hold the pudding together as it cooks.
- Milk
- Adds moisture and loosens the batter so it cooks into a soft, tender texture.
The step that matters
Tie the basin tightly. A tight cloth seal keeps water out of the basin and holds steam around the batter, so the pudding cooks evenly and stays moist.
Swap the raisin
The recipe marks raisin as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, nutmeg, milk, egg, butter):
- Raisinthe original
- Vanillafits about as well
- Figfits less well
- Coconutfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, nutmeg, milk, egg, butter. 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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