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 ↓
Baked Blackberry Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the batter
In a bowl, combine milk, eggs, flour, yeast, salt, and baking soda.
Let the batter rise in a warm place for four hours until very light.
Add fruit and bake
Gently stir in the dredged blackberries.
Pour the mixture into a buttered dish.
Bake in a moderate oven (350°F / 175°C) for one hour, covering with white paper if it crusts too fast.
Serve
Turn out and serve with sweet 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.
-
Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
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
- Bind the batter and help set the structure as the pudding bakes.
- Flour
- Forms the body of the batter, giving the pudding its structure once baked.
- Bakers' yeast
- Produces gas during the long rise, leavening the batter so it becomes very light.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the batter's acidity to add lift and help browning.
- Milk
- Adds moisture and richness, softening the crumb as the batter bakes.
- Blackberries
- Add fruit flavour, sweetness and juiciness to the pudding.
The step that matters
Covering the pudding if it crusts too fast. The surface can brown and harden before the centre sets. Covering with paper slows browning, letting heat reach the middle so the pudding bakes through evenly.
“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.
More blackberry pudding recipes
You might also like
White Cake431 recipes
Pound Cake373 recipes
Orange Bundt Cake349 recipes
Spice Cake344 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.