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 ↓
Peach Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Pare enough peaches to cover the bottom of a buttered deep dish.
Make and bake
In a bowl, beat the egg and mix in the milk, salt, flour, baking powder, and melted butter.
Pour the batter over the peaches.
Bake for about 45 minutes.
Serve
Serve with sweetened cream or a liquid 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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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Peach + milktop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together781 recipes
Shared aroma: phellandrene (minty).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Peach + buttertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together860 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).
-
Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour and butter 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 it sets in the oven.
- Flour
- Forms the main structure of the batter as it bakes.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the batter, helping it rise and turn light.
- Milk
- Adds moisture and loosens the batter into a pourable consistency.
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat, contributing to tenderness and flavor.
- Whole peaches
- Provide sweetness, moisture and fruit flavor beneath the batter.
The step that matters
Covering the peaches evenly with batter. Pouring the batter over a layer of peaches that is too thin or uneven can leave fruit exposed, where it dries or scorches, while the batter spreads unevenly and bakes unevenly.
Swap the peach
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, milk, flour, butter):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits better
- Figfits about as well
- Peachthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, milk, flour, butter. 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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