Why it works: Flour and buttermilk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,721 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Cherry Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
In a bowl, beat the eggs and mix in the salt, sugar, and lard.
Dissolve the baking soda in the buttermilk and add to the mixture.
Gradually stir in the flour until well combined.
Fold in the cherries, which can be fresh or drained if canned.
Steam and serve
Pour the mixture into a pudding mold and steam for three hours, or for one hour in small cups.
Serve warm.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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 + buttermilktop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,721 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Sugar + buttermilktop 9% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,973 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Egg and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 106,462 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 steaming.
- Flour
- Forms the gluten network that gives the pudding its body.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acid in buttermilk to release gas that lifts the pudding.
- Buttermilk
- Its acidity activates the baking soda and adds moisture and tenderness.
- Lard
- Fat that coats flour particles and keeps the crumb tender.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps keep the pudding moist.
The step that matters
Gradually stir in the flour until well combined. Once flour is mixed with liquid, gluten begins to form, and overmixing makes the pudding tough and dense. Stirring just until combined keeps the texture light and tender.
“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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