Why it works: Buttermilk and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,721 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Old-fashioned Batter 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.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
In a bowl, mix the baking soda into the buttermilk.
In another bowl, combine the cream of tartar with the sifted flour.
Make the batter
Combine the buttermilk mixture with the flour mixture and stir until smooth.
Pour the batter into a greased baking dish.
Bake and serve
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until golden.
Serve hot with a sauce made of cream, sugar, and a pinch of nutmeg.
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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Buttermilk + flourtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,721 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Buttermilk + sugartop 9% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,973 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Buttermilk + creamtop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together674 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acid in buttermilk to produce gas that makes the batter rise.
- Cream of tartar
- Adds acid that works with the baking soda to help the batter rise and brown.
- Buttermilk
- Adds moisture and acidity, and its acid activates the baking soda.
- Sifted flour
- Provides the structure that sets the batter as it bakes.
- Egg
- Binds the batter and adds structure and richness as it sets.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the crust brown as it bakes.
The step that matters
Stirring the wet and dry mixtures together. Stir only until the batter is smooth. Overmixing develops too much gluten in the flour, which makes the pudding tough and dense rather than light.
“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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