Why it works: Milk and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and 19,187 recipes mention both. Both carry ethyl caproate, which smells fruity, apple peel. The science ↓
Her Majesty’s Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Make the custard
Infuse the vanilla in the milk by simmering for 20 minutes, then strain to obtain ½ pint of cream.
In a clean saucepan, combine the cream and sugar, and bring to a boil.
Gradually pour the boiling mixture into the beaten egg yolks while stirring briskly to prevent curdling.
Cook and serve
Pour the mixture into a well-buttered mold and boil gently for 1 hour.
Let the pudding stand for at least 4 minutes before turning it out.
Garnish with preserved barberries or serve with fruit syrup or melted fruit jelly.
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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together19,187 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
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Sugar + syruptop 6% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together5,842 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Vanilla + sugartop 8% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Vanilla and sugar share little aroma chemistry, yet 35,032 recipes mention both: they likely 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
- Egg yolks
- Thicken and set the custard into a firm, sliceable pudding as they cook.
- Cream
- Adds richness and a smooth, moist texture to the pudding.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base, carrying the vanilla flavour through the custard.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and balances the richness of the yolks and cream.
- Vanilla
- Provides the main aroma of the pudding, infused into the milk.
The step that matters
Adding the boiling mixture to the egg yolks. Pouring the hot mixture in gradually while stirring briskly warms the yolks evenly. If it goes in too fast or unstirred, the egg proteins set in clumps and the custard curdles instead of becoming smooth.
“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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