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 ↓
Pudding Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Beat powdered sugar and butter together until well combined.
Beat egg until frothy, then mix it with the sugar and butter mixture.
Cook and combine
Bring milk and cornstarch to a boil in a saucepan, stirring constantly.
Combine the milk mixture with the egg mixture and stir well before serving.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Butter + winetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,645 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).
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Milk + nutmegtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together14,685 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Butter + nutmegtop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together24,377 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base of the sauce, which thickens when heated.
- Egg
- Adds richness and body to the sauce when combined with the milk mixture.
- Powdered sugar
- Provides sweetness and dissolves easily into the butter.
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness, carrying flavor through the sauce.
- Cornstarch
- Thickens the hot milk as its starch swells when heated.
The step that matters
Stirring the milk and cornstarch constantly while bringing it to a boil. Cornstarch granules can clump and settle on the bottom of the pan, causing lumps and scorching. Constant stirring keeps the starch evenly dispersed so it thickens the milk smoothly as it heats.
Swap the nutmeg
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, butter, egg, sugar, wine):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Nutmegthe original
- Tarragonfits less well
- Gingerfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against milk, butter, egg, sugar, wine. 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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