Why it works: Flour and almond are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,673 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Batter Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare and mix
Beat the eggs in a bowl.
Add the milk, flour, grated almonds, salt, and ginger; mix well.
Butter a basin and pour the mixture in.
Boil and serve
Tie a cloth over the basin and boil for 1 hour and 15 minutes.
Once done, turn it out onto a dish and pour melted butter and sugar over it.
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 + almondtop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,673 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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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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Almond + buttertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,245 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (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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Almond + gingertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,163 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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
- Bind the batter and help it set into a firm, sliceable pudding as they cook.
- Flour
- Thickens the batter and gives the pudding body and structure as it cooks.
- Milk
- Adds moisture and liquid that the eggs and flour set into a tender custard-like texture.
- Bitter almonds
- Provide the main nutty, aromatic flavour and some texture through the pudding.
The step that matters
Tie the cloth over the basin and boil for 1 hour and 15 minutes. The cloth must be sealed snugly so steam cooks the batter evenly without water getting in. Keeping the water at a steady boil and the basin covered throughout ensures the egg and flour mixture sets fully rather than staying wet in the centre.
Swap the ginger
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, milk, flour, almond, butter, sugar):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Nutmegfits better
- Capersfits better
- Gingerthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, milk, flour, almond, butter, sugar. 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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