Name: Barberry-and-rice Pudding
Ingredients: 10 ounces barberries, stripped from the stalks; 2 cups milk (or water); 4 ounces whole boiled rice; 8 ounces sugar; 1 small slice of butter; 5 large eggs (or 6 small eggs)

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 ↓

Barberry-and-rice Pudding

Ingredients

10 ounces barberries, stripped from the stalks
2 cups milk (or water)
4 ounces whole boiled rice
8 ounces sugar
1 small slice of butter
5 large eggs (or 6 small eggs)

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 pudding

Mix the barberries with the milk or water.
In a separate bowl, combine the boiled rice, sugar, butter, and eggs.
Stir the barberry mixture into the rice mixture until well combined.
Pour the mixture into a greased baking dish.

Bake

Bake for about 30‑40 minutes, or until set and golden on top.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together81,283 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Milk + ricetop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together7,374 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Rice + buttertop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together9,645 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together118,967 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together98,233 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Barberries: Provide the tart fruit flavour and colour that contrast with the sweet pudding.
Boiled rice: Forms the body of the pudding and absorbs liquid as it bakes.
Eggs: Bind the mixture and set during baking to give the pudding its firm, custardy texture.
Sugar: Sweetens the pudding and helps the top brown as it bakes.
Milk: Adds moisture and richness, softening the rice as the pudding cooks.
Butter: Adds fat for richness and a smoother, more tender crumb.

The step that matters

Stir the barberry mixture into the rice mixture until well combined. Barberries are tart and can cluster or streak if not evenly distributed, leaving some bites too sour and others flat. Thorough mixing gives an even flavour and colour throughout the set custard.

“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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Barberry-and-rice Pudding