Why it works: Milk and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,187 recipes. Both carry ethyl caproate, which smells fruity, apple peel. The science ↓
Royal Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the base
Melt the butter in a saucepan.
Stir in the flour and add the milk, cooking and stirring until the mixture leaves the sides of the pan.
Cool slightly, then add the sugar and vanilla, followed by the yolks of eggs one at a time, beating well.
Stir in the biscuit crumbs.
Finish and cook
Whisk the egg whites until stiff and gently fold them into the mixture.
Pour the mixture into a well-buttered souffle mold.
Cover with buttered paper and steam gently for 40 minutes or bake at 400°F (200°C) for 25 minutes.
Serve with wine or jam sauce.
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 + vanillatop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,187 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
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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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Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Biscuit + vanillatop 9% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together422 recipes
Shared aroma: maltol (caramel, sweet).
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Flour + biscuittop 9% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together889 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 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
- Egg whites
- Whisked to stiffness, they trap air that lifts the pudding as it cooks.
- Egg yolks
- Enrich the base and help it set into a tender, custardy texture.
- Flour
- Cooked with butter and milk to form a thickened base that holds the pudding together.
- Butter
- Adds richness and flavour to the base and greases the mold.
- Crushed savoy biscuits
- Add body and a crumbly texture to the mixture.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid of the base, which thickens with the flour as it cooks.
The step that matters
Folding in the egg whites. Whites beaten to stiff peaks hold air that gives the pudding its rise. Stirring them in vigorously knocks that air out, so the pudding comes out dense instead of light.
Swap the vanilla
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, butter, milk, egg, sugar, biscuit):
- Vanillathe original
- Raisinfits about as well
- Figfits less well
- Coconutfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, butter, milk, egg, sugar, biscuit. 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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