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 ↓
Baked Puddings
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.
Prepare the rice
Preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C).
Cook the rice in boiling water until tender, then drain.
Make the batter
In a bowl, combine the cooked rice, milk, butter, sugar, eggs, and lemon rind, then mix well until smooth.
Pour the mixture into a greased baking dish.
Bake
Bake for 30 to 40 minutes until set.
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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Rice + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,374 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Rice + lemontop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,366 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
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Milk + lemontop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,053 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Rice + buttertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,645 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Set and bind the custard so it holds its shape when baked.
- Milk
- Provides the liquid that cooks into a soft, creamy custard.
- Rice
- Forms the body of the pudding and absorbs the surrounding custard.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and a smooth, tender mouthfeel.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the pudding and contributes to its browning at the surface.
The step that matters
Bake until just set. Eggs set as they heat. Underbaking leaves the custard runny, while overbaking makes the eggs curdle and turn grainy or rubbery, so check for a set centre rather than baking to a fixed point.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (rice, milk, butter, sugar, egg):
- Vanillafits better
- Coconutfits better
- Figfits about as well
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against rice, milk, butter, sugar, egg. 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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