Why it works: Butter and milk 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 ↓
Orange Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Make the mixture
Boil the milk and pour it over the breadcrumbs.
Add the butter, sugar, and grated rind of the oranges.
When cool, add the beaten eggs and juice of 1 orange.
Cook and serve
Pour the mixture into well-buttered cups or darioles, cover with greased paper, and steam for 15 to 20 minutes.
Alternatively, bake in a greased pie dish for half an hour.
Serve with cream.
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 + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Milk + orangetop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,696 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
-
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).
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Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Breadcrumbs
- Absorb the hot milk and form the body of the pudding.
- Eggs
- Set the mixture when cooked, giving it a firm, custard-like structure.
- Butter
- Adds richness and a smooth, tender texture.
- Milk
- Softens the breadcrumbs and adds moisture to the pudding.
- Oranges
- Provide aroma and citrus brightness from the rind and juice.
The step that matters
When cool, add the beaten eggs. Adding eggs to very hot mixture can scramble them and leave lumps. Letting it cool first lets the eggs blend smoothly and set evenly when cooked.
Swap the orange
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, milk, sugar, egg):
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Coconutfits better
- Orangethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, milk, 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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