Why it works: Milk and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,187 recipes. Both carry ethyl caproate, which smells fruity, apple peel. The science ↓
Chocolate Pudding.
six dariole molds (alternative method)Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the base
Break the chocolate into small pieces and put it in a saucepan with the milk; simmer until dissolved.
Mix and fold
Cream the butter and sugar together; stir in the egg yolks, breadcrumbs, milk, chocolate, and vanilla essence; mix well.
Whisk the egg whites until stiff and gently fold them into the mixture.
Steam and serve
Pour the mixture into a well-buttered mold, cover with greased paper, and steam for 1 to 1.5 hours; alternatively, pour into six well-buttered dariole molds and steam for about 25 minutes.
Serve with custard or vanilla 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.
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Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,187 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
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Chocolate + vanillatop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,020 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
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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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Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Chocolate + sugartop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,404 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 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
- Egg whites whipped to stiff peaks lighten the pudding and help it set with a tender structure.
- Breadcrumbs
- Absorb the milk and butter to form the body of the pudding.
- Butter
- Creamed with sugar to add richness and a soft, tender crumb.
- Chocolate
- Provides the main flavour and richness of the pudding.
- Milk
- Melts the chocolate and moistens the breadcrumbs for a soft batter.
The step that matters
Folding in the whisked egg whites. Whites must be whisked until stiff but folded in gently. Overmixing knocks out the air bubbles that lighten the pudding, leaving it 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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