Why it works: Vanilla and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,187 recipes. Both carry ethyl caproate, which smells fruity, apple peel. The science ↓
Cottage 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. The book gives no cooking times either; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Make the batter
Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a bowl, beat the eggs and mix in the softened butter.
Add nutmeg, vanilla extract, and milk, and stir until combined.
Gradually add flour until the batter is thick enough to drop from a spoon.
Fold in the baking powder.
Bake and serve
Pour the batter into a greased baking dish and bake for about 30-40 minutes or until golden brown.
Serve warm with wine 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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Vanilla + milktop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,187 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Nutmeg + flourtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,623 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Nutmeg + vanillatop 10% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,781 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 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
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and add structure as they set during baking.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and a tender crumb.
- Milk
- Supplies the liquid that hydrates the flour and keeps the pudding moist.
- Flour
- Provides the main structure that sets the pudding as it bakes.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas during baking so the pudding rises and becomes light.
The step that matters
Adding the flour. Adding too much flour or overmixing develops gluten, making the pudding dense and tough. Too little flour leaves the batter runny, so it may not set properly in the oven.
Swap the nutmeg
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, butter, vanilla, milk, flour):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Nutmegthe original
- Capersfits less well
- Clovefits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, butter, vanilla, 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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