Why it works: Butter and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
‘veda’ Nut Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
Cream the butter and sugar together with a wooden spoon.
Add one egg and a little flour, then add the second egg and the remaining flour, beating for 7 minutes.
Stir in the Veda oatmeal and Paisley flour, then pour into a greased tin.
Steam
Steam for 1 hour.
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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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + flourtop 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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Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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
- Butter
- Adds fat that makes the pudding rich and tender.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the pudding and helps trap air when creamed with butter.
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and set into a firm, structured crumb.
- White flour
- Provides the main structure that holds the pudding together.
- Veda oatmeal
- Adds a hearty texture and absorbs moisture during steaming.
The step that matters
Adding the eggs with a little flour. Adding the egg gradually with flour helps the butter and sugar mixture stay emulsified, so the batter does not curdle or separate.
“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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