Why it works: Flour and milk 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 ↓
Sultana Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Rub the dripping into the flour and breadcrumbs until well combined.
Mix the baking soda with the slightly heated milk and add it to the dry ingredients.
Stir in the beaten egg.
Boil and serve
Tie the mixture in a pudding cloth and boil for 2 hours.
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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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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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).
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Milk + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Flour and milk 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
- Dripping
- Rubbed into the flour, it adds richness and a tender, moist crumb.
- Egg
- Binds the mixture together and adds structure as it sets.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the warm milk to release gas, helping the pudding rise and lighten.
- Flour
- Forms the main structure of the pudding as it cooks.
- Breadcrumbs
- Add body and absorb moisture, giving the pudding a soft, tender texture.
- Sultanas
- Add sweetness and chewy bursts of fruit throughout the pudding.
The step that matters
Boiling the pudding. The pudding cloth must be tied firmly but with room for expansion, and the water must boil steadily. The leavening gas and the setting starch need a steady, sustained heat to lighten and firm the pudding evenly.
“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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