Why it works: Butter and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Sponge 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
Beat the eggs until light and fluffy.
Gradually add the sugar, butter, and flour, mixing well.
Dissolve the baking soda in a little lemon extract and add it to the mixture.
Fold in the cream of tartar gently.
Pour the batter into a greased baking dish.
Bake and serve
Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden and a toothpick comes out clean.
Serve warm with wine 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 + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
-
Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 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
- Beaten to trap air, giving the pudding its light, airy structure.
- Flour
- Provides the starch that sets during baking and gives the pudding its body.
- Butter
- Adds fat for a tender crumb and rich flavour.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the pudding and helps it brown in the oven.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidity in the mixture to produce gas that helps the pudding rise.
- Cream of tartar
- Acidic ingredient that stabilises the foam and works with the baking soda to lift the batter.
The step that matters
Folding in the cream of tartar gently. Beaten air bubbles hold the batter's rise. Vigorous mixing at this point knocks out air and makes the pudding dense, so the cream of tartar should be folded in lightly and only until combined.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar, butter, flour, cream):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits better
- Coconutfits about as well
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sugar, butter, flour, cream. 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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