Why it works: Flour and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 78,219 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Another Batter Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
In a bowl, mix the yolks of the eggs with the flour until smooth.
Thin the batter with milk until it reaches the consistency of cream.
Whisk the egg whites until stiff and gently fold them into the batter.
Cook and serve
Pour the batter into a floured cloth or buttered basin and boil for 1 hour.
Before serving, cut the top into large dice halfway through the pudding.
Pour the jelly over the pudding and serve immediately.
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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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Milk + curranttop 16% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together5,475 recipes
Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).
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Egg + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Egg + curranttop 26% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together8,734 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
Flour and milk barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 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
- Whites trapped as stiff foam lighten the batter and help it rise and set structure while cooking.
- All-purpose flour
- Starch forms the body of the batter and sets into a firm, sliceable pudding when boiled.
- Milk
- Liquid thins the flour batter to a creamy consistency, adding moisture and softness to the pudding.
- Jelly
- Fruit jelly adds sweetness and a bright, fruity flavour that contrasts with the plain pudding.
The step that matters
Folding in the egg whites. Stiff whites hold air that gives lift; overmixing or stirring vigorously knocks the air out, leaving a dense pudding. Fold gently with a large spatula so the foam stays intact.
Swap the currant
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, flour, milk):
- Raisinfits better
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Currantthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, flour, 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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