Why it works: Butter and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and 81,283 recipes mention both. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Queen of Puddings
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.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Make the batter
In a bowl, cream together the butter and sugar.
Beat in the lemon juice and peel until the mixture is light.
Add the beaten egg yolks, then the milk, alternating with the stiffened egg whites and flour.
Fold in the shredded coconut.
Bake and serve
Pour the mixture into small tins and bake until set.
Serve fresh, but not warm.
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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Milk + coconuttop 10% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together2,648 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Butter + coconuttop 12% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together3,467 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Flour
- Provides the structure that holds the pudding together as it sets.
- Egg whites
- Beaten air bubbles give the pudding a light, airy lift.
- Egg yolks
- Add richness and help the mixture set as it bakes.
- Butter
- Adds fat for a tender crumb and rich flavour.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the pudding and helps the butter cream to a light mixture.
- Lemon
- Its juice and peel add acidity and bright citrus aroma.
The step that matters
Adding the stiffened egg whites and flour. Beaten egg whites trap air that gives the pudding its lift. Mixing too vigorously deflates them, so the pudding bakes up dense rather than light.
Flavor stand-ins for the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cream, butter, sugar, egg, milk, flour, coconut):
- Vanillabetter flavor fit
- Raisinbetter flavor fit
- Figbetter flavor fit
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against cream, butter, sugar, egg, milk, flour, coconut. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).
“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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