Why it works: Butter and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Tennessee Corn
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a slow oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Cut enough green corn from the cobs to fill a quart measure.
Heat the milk.
Make the custard
Beat the eggs and mix in the cream, salt, and pepper.
Add the melted butter and heated milk to the egg mixture.
Bake and serve
Place the corn in a buttered pudding dish and pour the liquid mixture over it.
Bake in a 300°F (150°C) oven until firm.
Serve hot as a side dish with a meat course.
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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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Milk + corntop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,955 recipes
Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).
-
Corn + peppertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,324 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Butter + corntop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,345 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Bind the mixture and set into a firm, sliceable custard when baked.
- Green corn
- Provides the main bulk and sweet corn flavor of the dish.
- Milk
- Supplies liquid that keeps the custard tender and moist as it sets.
- Cream
- Adds richness and fat, giving the custard a softer, smoother texture.
- Melted butter
- Adds fat for richness and a smooth mouthfeel in the custard.
The step that matters
Baking until firm. Egg proteins set as they heat, so underbaking leaves the custard loose, while overbaking can make it curdled, dry, or rubbery. Watch for a firm center rather than relying only on the timer.
“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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