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 ↓
Batter 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.
Make the batter
In a double boiler, combine milk, butter, and flour.
Beat while cooking until the mixture leaves the sides of the boiler, then remove from heat.
Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Add a pinch of salt and beat again.
Bake and serve
Turn the batter into a warm, well-greased pudding dish.
Bake in a 350°F (175°C) oven for about 35 minutes.
Serve immediately with crushed fruit 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).
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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).
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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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
- Add structure and richness, helping the batter set and puff as it bakes.
- Flour
- Thickens the milk and butter into a paste that gives the pudding its body.
- Milk
- Provides the liquid that turns to steam and helps the pudding rise and stay moist.
- Butter
- Adds fat for tenderness and rich flavor.
The step that matters
Beat the flour mixture until it leaves the sides of the boiler. Cooking and beating the flour paste gelatinizes its starch so it thickens and holds structure. Undercooked paste stays loose and may collapse or turn gummy once the eggs are added.
“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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