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Asparagus Pudding

A baked dish of asparagus, eggs, milk, butter, and flour.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Butter and milk 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 ↓

Asparagus Pudding

Oven, in the book's wordsA very slow oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a very slow oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

  1. Boil the tops of the asparagus until tender, then cut into small pieces.

  2. Melt the butter in a pan over medium heat.

Make the custard

  1. In a bowl, beat the eggs, then add pepper, salt, and milk; stir well.

  2. Gradually add flour to thicken the mixture.

  3. Add the asparagus to the egg mixture and combine.

Bake and serve

  1. Pour the mixture into a buttered baking pan.

  2. Bake at 300°F (150°C) for 2 hours.

  3. Serve with drawn butter.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  2. Asparagus + peppertop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,968 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  3. Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together124,287 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  4. Asparagus + flourtop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together936 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked 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

Asparagus
Provides the main vegetable body and flavour of the pudding.
Eggs
Set when baked, giving the pudding its firm, custard-like structure.
Milk
Adds moisture and softness to the egg mixture as it bakes.
Flour
Thickens the liquid mixture so it holds together after baking.
Butter
Adds richness and fat, contributing to flavour and a tender texture.

The step that matters

Gradually add flour to thicken the mixture. Adding flour slowly and mixing well prevents lumps and keeps the liquid smooth. Flour thickens as its starch absorbs liquid and swells when heated, so an even blend gives a uniform texture after baking.

Swap the asparagus

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, egg, pepper, milk, flour):

  1. Capsicumfits about as well
  2. Potatofits about as well
  3. Asparagusthe original
  4. Chivefits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, egg, pepper, milk, flour. 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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