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Asparagus Pudding

A boiled pudding made with asparagus, eggs, flour, ham, butter, milk, pepper, and salt.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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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 ↓

Asparagus Pudding

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Cut the tender parts of the asparagus into pieces about the size of peas.

  2. Combine the asparagus, beaten eggs, flour, ham, butter, pepper, and salt in a bowl.

  3. Mix well and add enough milk to achieve a thick butter-like consistency.

Cook and serve

  1. Pour the mixture into a buttered pint mold and tie it tightly with a floured cloth.

  2. Place the mold in boiling water and let it boil for 2 hours.

  3. Turn the pudding out onto a hot dish and pour melted butter around it.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  2. Asparagus + peppertop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,968 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  3. Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together124,287 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  4. Asparagus + flourtop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together936 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Flour + milktop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked 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

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Bind the mixture and set into a firm, sliceable pudding as they cook.
Flour
Thickens the batter so the pudding holds its shape rather than running apart.
Asparagus
Supplies the main flavour and tender pieces throughout the pudding.
Butter
Adds richness and fat, contributing moisture and a soft texture.
Milk
Loosens the mixture to a thick, spreadable consistency that cooks evenly.

The step that matters

Tying the floured cloth and boiling. The cloth must be tied tightly so water cannot seep into the mold and dilute the custard. The water should stay at a steady boil so the egg mixture sets evenly without gaps or a watery texture.

Swap the asparagus

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, flour, ham, butter, pepper, milk):

  1. Asparagusthe original
  2. Potatofits about as well
  3. Capsicumfits about as well
  4. Leekfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against egg, flour, ham, butter, pepper, milk. 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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