Why it works: Milk and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 88,785 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Tapioca Cream 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 custard
Bring the milk to a boil.
In a bowl, combine the beaten yolks and sugar.
Add the tapioca to the boiling milk, stirring well until it thickens.
Flavor to taste, then remove from heat.
Stir in the beaten egg whites.
Bake and serve
Spread the mixture in a baking dish, meringue the top, and brown in the oven at 350°F (175°C).
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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Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Sugar + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Sugar and milk barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 77,875 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
- Tapioca
- Thickens the milk as it cooks, giving the pudding its body and soft texture.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base that the tapioca swells in and thickens.
- Egg yolks
- Enrich the custard and help it set smoothly when cooked.
- Egg whites
- Whipped to a stiff froth, they lighten the pudding and form the browned meringue topping.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the pudding and helps the meringue brown in the oven.
The step that matters
Adding the tapioca to the boiling milk. Stirring well while the tapioca goes in keeps it from clumping and sticking, so it thickens evenly as it cooks.
“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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