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 ↓
A Green Apricot Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point. The book gives no cooking times either; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Wash and pit the green apricots, then chop the apricots finely.
Make the batter
In a bowl, cream together ½ cup of butter and 1 cup of sugar.
Add 2 eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
Stir in 1 cup of milk and the chopped apricots.
In another bowl, combine 1 cup of flour and a pinch of salt.
Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture, stirring until smooth.
Pour the batter into a greased baking dish.
Bake
Bake for 30-40 minutes or until golden brown and set in the center.
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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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Apricot + milktop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together826 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Apricot + buttertop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,458 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Butter and flour 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 batter and help it set firm in the oven.
- Butter
- Adds richness and tenderness to the crumb.
- Flour
- Provides the structure that holds the pudding together.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the batter and helps it brown.
- Milk
- Adds moisture so the batter bakes soft and smooth.
- Green apricots
- Supply the fruit flavor and moisture within the pudding.
The step that matters
Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture, stirring until smooth.. Adding flour gradually and stirring just until smooth keeps lumps out and avoids overworking the batter, which would toughen the texture of the pudding.
Swap the apricot
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, butter, flour, milk, egg):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits better
- Figfits better
- Apricotthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, butter, flour, milk, 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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