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 ↓
Corn Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a slow oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Grate the corn and combine it with the eggs, sugar, salt, butter, and milk in a mixing bowl.
Mix well until all ingredients are combined.
Bake
Pour the mixture into a baking dish.
Bake for one hour until set and golden brown.
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).
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Corn + walnuttop 9% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together349 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Corn + milktop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,955 recipes
Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).
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Corn + buttertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,345 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
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Butter + walnuttop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,832 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Corn
- Provides the bulk, sweetness, and tender body of the pudding.
- Eggs
- Set when heated, giving the pudding its firm, custard-like structure.
- Milk
- Adds moisture and richness, and cooks into a creamy custard with the eggs.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the top brown as it bakes.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richer flavor and a softer, more tender texture.
The step that matters
Bake until just set. Eggs set as they heat, so pulling the pudding out too late can leave it dry and rubbery, while too early leaves it loose and watery in the center.
Swap the walnut
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (corn, egg, sugar, butter, milk):
- Almondfits better
- Pecansfits about as well
- Peanutfits about as well
- Walnutthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against corn, egg, sugar, butter, milk. 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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