Why it works: Ginger and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,380 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓
Baked Indian Pudding
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.
Make the batter
Pour the boiling milk over the cornmeal in a bowl.
Add the drippings, salt, spices, lemon rind, and molasses and mix well.
Cover and let it sit for 1 hour.
Stir in the beaten egg yolks, then fold in the whipped egg whites.
Pour the mixture into a pudding dish.
Bake and serve
Bake at 350°F (175°C) for 30 to 45 minutes, stirring several times during the first 10 to 15 minutes.
Serve with a sauce made of butter and brown sugar.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Ginger + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together6,380 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Ginger + lemontop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,154 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
-
Cinnamon + lemontop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together7,950 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Milk + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,655 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cornmeal
- Forms the thick body of the pudding as it absorbs the hot milk and sets while baking.
- Eggs
- Bind the pudding and, with the whipped whites, give it lift and a set custard-like structure.
- Molasses
- Adds sweetness, dark color, and a deep flavor that browns the pudding during baking.
- Milk
- Hydrates the cornmeal and provides moisture and richness for a soft, creamy texture.
- Drippings or butter
- Adds fat for richness and a tender, smooth mouthfeel.
The step that matters
Folding in the whipped egg whites. Whites hold air only if they are whipped to the right stage and folded gently; overmixing deflates them, and the pudding loses the lift and light texture the eggs are meant to give.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, milk, molasses, ginger, cinnamon, egg):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits better
- Figfits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, milk, molasses, ginger, cinnamon, egg. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“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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