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 ↓
Batter Puddings
Ingredients
Directions
Mix the flour with a little milk, then gradually add the remaining milk.
If making a plain pudding, strain the mixture through a fine sieve to remove lumps.
Butter a mold or baking pan before pouring in the pudding mixture.
Ensure the water is boiling before placing the pudding in the pot.
Keep the water boiling steadily during cooking to prevent burning.
Use a clean pudding cloth; dip it in boiling water, squeeze dry, and dredge with flour before use.
Stir the pudding occasionally if boiling in a saucepan to prevent sticking.
If using a mold, ensure it is well buttered for easy removal after cooking.
Let custard or bread puddings stand for five minutes before turning them 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 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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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour and butter 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
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