Why it works: Ginger and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,154 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓
Batter Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a slow oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the batter
In a saucepan, gradually stir 3 tablespoons of fine flour into 1 pint of milk until smooth.
Simmer the mixture until it thickens, then stir in 2 ounces of butter and set aside to cool.
Once cooled, add the yolks of 3 eggs and mix well.
Boil and serve
Flour a wet cloth or butter a basin, then pour the batter into it and tie it tightly.
Plunge the basin into boiling water, bottom side up, and boil for 1.5 hours.
Serve with plain butter and optionally add ginger, nutmeg, and lemon peel.
Savory version
For a savory version, pour some batter into a pudding dish, add seasoned meat and shredded onion, then cover with remaining batter and bake in a 300°F (150°C) oven.
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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Ginger + lemontop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,154 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Ginger + nutmegtop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together3,324 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Nutmeg + lemontop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together11,318 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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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 + nutmegtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,623 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Fine flour
- Thickens the milk into a smooth batter that sets the pudding's structure.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base that the flour thickens and the eggs enrich.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and a softer, more tender texture.
- Egg yolks
- Add richness and help bind the batter as it sets.
The step that matters
Let the thickened batter cool before adding the egg yolks. Yolks added to a hot mixture can scramble and become grainy. Cooling the batter first lets the yolks blend in smoothly, giving an even, tender pudding.
Swap the ginger
The recipe marks ginger as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, milk, butter, egg, nutmeg, lemon, sauce):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Parsleyfits better
- Cardamomfits better
- Gingerthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, milk, butter, egg, nutmeg, lemon, sauce. 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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