Why it works: Milk and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 78,219 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Puff Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Make the batter
Mix flour and milk together until smooth.
Add well-beaten egg yolks and then the beaten egg whites.
Mix all together and pour into a buttered biscuit pan.
Bake and serve
Bake at 400°F (200°C) for 10 to 15 minutes.
Serve immediately with clear sauce or brandy 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 + 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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Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Milk and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 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
- Egg whites trapped in the batter expand with heat, lifting the pudding and giving it a light, puffed structure.
- Flour
- Starch thickens with the milk and egg as it heats, giving the pudding body so it holds its shape.
- Milk
- Liquid that hydrates the flour and sets with the egg proteins, adding moisture and a soft custard-like texture.
The step that matters
Add the beaten egg whites. Whites must be beaten well and folded in gently, since their trapped air is what makes the pudding rise. Deflating them by overmixing leaves a flat, dense result.
“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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