Why it works: Cream and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and 43,437 recipes mention both. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓
The recipe
Ingredients
Contains: egg, milk, wheat (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Directions
Prepare
Boil the cream and let it cool until almost cold.
Beat the eggs for 15 minutes.
Make and cook
Mix the eggs with the cream and add flour, sugar, and nutmeg.
Tie the mixture tightly in a well-buttered cloth.
Boil for 1 hour and carefully turn it out.
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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Cream + sugartop 5% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together43,437 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Flour + nutmegtop 6% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together18,411 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Cream + nutmegtop 6% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together7,917 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
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Egg + flourtop 8% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together104,138 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Egg + nutmegtop 9% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together24,725 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Egg and flour share little aroma chemistry, yet 104,138 recipes mention both: they likely 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
- Beaten eggs set the custard and give the pudding its structure as it cooks.
- Cream
- Adds richness and moisture, giving the pudding a soft, smooth texture.
- Flour
- Thickens the mixture and helps it hold its shape after boiling.
The step that matters
Tie the mixture tightly in a well-buttered cloth.. A snug cloth keeps the mixture compact and stops water from seeping in during boiling. The buttered cloth helps the pudding release cleanly when turned out.
“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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