Why it works: Milk and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Baked Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the custard base
Mix the Cerola with the cold milk until smooth.
Heat the 2 pints of milk until just short of boiling.
Add the Cerola mixture to the hot milk and stir well.
Bake
Mix in the butter, sugar, grated lemon rind, and beaten eggs.
Pour the mixture into a baking dish and bake for 30 minutes at 350°F (175°C).
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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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Milk + lemontop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,053 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Butter + lemontop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,227 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
-
Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
-
Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cerola
- Thickens the milk as it heats, giving the pudding its body and set.
- Eggs
- Set during baking to give the pudding structure and a custard-like texture.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base that gives the pudding moisture and tenderness.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and a softer, smoother crumb.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the pudding and aids browning on the surface.
The step that matters
Add the Cerola mixture to the hot milk and stir well. Stirring thoroughly disperses the thickener evenly so it doesn't clump in the hot liquid, giving a smooth, uniformly set pudding.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, butter, sugar, egg):
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits about as well
- Coconutfits about as well
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against milk, butter, sugar, egg. 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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