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 ↓
Black 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).
Make the batter
In a large bowl, cream together the sugar and butter until light and fluffy.
Add the milk and molasses, mixing well.
In a separate bowl, beat the eggs and then add them to the mixture.
Stir in the flour, grated nutmeg, and baking soda just before baking.
Bake and serve
Pour the batter into a greased baking dish and bake for about 30-40 minutes.
Serve warm with hard 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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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Flour + nutmegtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,623 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + molassestop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,225 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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 add structure as they set during baking.
- Butter
- Creams with the sugar to trap air and give a tender, rich crumb.
- Flour
- Provides the structure that holds the batter together as it bakes.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the molasses's acidity to produce gas that helps the pudding rise.
- Molasses
- Adds moisture, deep sweetness and dark color to the pudding.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the batter and helps create a light, fluffy creamed base.
The step that matters
Adding the baking soda. Baking soda needs an acid, such as the molasses here, to release carbon dioxide. Stirring it in just before baking keeps the gas from escaping before the batter sets, so the pudding rises properly.
Swap the nutmeg
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, butter, milk, molasses, flour, egg, brandy):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Nutmegthe original
- Clovefits less well
- Gingerfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, butter, milk, molasses, flour, egg, brandy. 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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