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 ↓
Modern Cookery
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a brisk oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the rice
Cook the rice in the milk until tender.
Scrape the sugar rubbed on the lemon rind into the rice before removing from heat.
Mould and bake
Butter a decorative tin mold thoroughly.
Press the hot rice into the mold and smooth the surface.
Let it cool.
If using a plain mold, dip it in hot water to loosen the pudding.
Turn out the rice and mark a rim about 1 inch wide on top with a knife.
Brush clarified butter over the entire pudding.
Bake in a brisk oven at 400°F (200°C) until golden brown.
Serve
Carefully raise the cover where marked and scoop out the rice, leaving a 1-inch thick crust.
Fill the crust with warmed preserved fruit or compote.
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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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Rice + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,374 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Rice + lemontop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,366 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
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Milk + plumtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together406 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Lemon + plumtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together623 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Rice
- Forms the body of the pudding, setting firm as it cooks and cools.
- Milk
- Cooks the rice into a creamy, tender base and adds richness.
- Fresh butter
- Adds fat for richness and helps the surface brown in the oven.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and balances the flavour of the milk and lemon.
- Lemon rind
- Adds aromatic citrus oils that scent the sugar and rice.
The step that matters
Raise the cover without breaking the crust. The pudding must be fully cool and firm before the marked lid is lifted. If it is still warm or soft, the rice will tear and the crust will not hold its shape around the filling.
Swap the plum
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (rice, milk, butter, sugar, lemon):
- Vanillafits better
- Coconutfits better
- Figfits better
- Plumthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against rice, milk, butter, sugar, lemon. 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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