Why it works: Milk and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 78,219 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Minute Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Cook the batter
In a double boiler, heat the milk with the salt until boiling.
Slowly stir in the flour mixed with baking powder.
Add the well-beaten eggs and stir thoroughly.
Mold and serve
Remove from heat and pour into a small greased mold or large bowl for a few minutes.
When ready to serve, invert onto a large plate and remove the mold.
Serve with cream 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 + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Milk and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 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
- Milk
- Supplies the liquid base and richness, giving the pudding a soft, creamy body.
- Flour
- Its starch thickens as it cooks, giving the pudding structure and body.
- Eggs
- Their proteins set as they heat, firming the pudding and binding it together.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas when heated, lightening the pudding's texture.
The step that matters
Slowly stir the flour into the boiling milk. Flour dropped in quickly clumps as its outer layer hydrates before the inside. Adding it slowly while stirring constantly keeps the batter smooth and evenly thickened.
“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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