Why it works: Ginger and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,154 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓
Batter Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
Rub ½ cup fine flour into 1 pint milk until smooth.
Simmer the mixture until thickened.
Stir in 2 ounces butter.
Let the mixture cool.
Add 3 egg yolks and mix the yolks into the batter.
Optionally add ginger, nutmeg, and lemon peel.
Boil and serve
Flour a wet cloth or butter a basin.
Pour the batter into the prepared cloth or basin.
Tie the cloth or basin tightly.
Plunge the wrapped batter into boiling water, bottom side up.
Boil for 1.5 hours.
Serve with plain butter and sweet 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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Ginger + lemontop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,154 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Ginger + nutmegtop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together3,324 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Nutmeg + lemontop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together11,318 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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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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Flour + nutmegtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,623 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Fine flour
- Thickens the milk into a batter that sets as it cooks and holds the pudding's shape.
- Milk
- Provides the liquid that the flour thickens into a smooth, custard-like base.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and a smoother, more tender texture.
- Egg yolks
- Enrich the batter and help it set to a firm, creamy texture when cooked.
The step that matters
Tie the cloth or basin tightly. A loose wrapping lets water seep in and dilute the batter, and the pudding can lose its shape or turn soggy. A snug seal keeps the batter compact as it cooks.
Swap the ginger
The recipe marks ginger as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, milk, butter, egg, nutmeg, lemon, sauce):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Parsleyfits better
- Cardamomfits better
- Gingerthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, milk, butter, egg, nutmeg, lemon, sauce. 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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