Why it works: Raisin and cinnamon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,390 recipes. Both carry 1-octen-3-ol, which smells mushroom, earthy. The science ↓
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.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Combine raisins and ground cinnamon in a bowl.
Scald the milk in a saucepan.
Make the batter
Mix cornmeal with the scalded milk until smooth in a separate bowl.
Beat eggs and sugar together in another bowl.
Add the egg mixture to the cornmeal mixture, then stir in the raisins and cinnamon.
Bake and serve
Pour the mixture into a baking dish and bake for 1 hour.
Serve warm with cream or sour 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.
-
Raisin + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,390 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
-
Cinnamon + milktop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,655 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
-
Cinnamon + sugartop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together30,779 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
-
Raisin + sugartop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,481 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
-
Raisin + milktop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,155 recipes
Shared aroma: decanoic acid (acides aroma).
Cinnamon and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 30,779 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
- Cornmeal
- Forms the thick body of the pudding as it absorbs liquid and sets while baking.
- Eggs
- Bind the mixture and help it set into a custard-like texture when baked.
- Milk
- Hydrates the cornmeal and provides the creamy moisture of the pudding.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and contributes to browning on the baked surface.
- Raisins
- Add pockets of chewy sweetness distributed throughout the pudding.
- Ground cinnamon
- Adds warm, aromatic spice flavor to the pudding.
The step that matters
Scalding the milk and mixing it smoothly into the cornmeal. Scalding milk before adding cornmeal helps the starch hydrate evenly, so stirring until smooth prevents lumps and gives the pudding an even texture after baking.
Swap the raisin
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cinnamon, milk, egg, sugar):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinthe original
- Figfits about as well
- Blueberryfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against cinnamon, milk, egg, sugar. 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.
More indian pudding recipes
You might also like
Cinnamon Rolls71 recipes
Cinnamon Cake42 recipes
White Cake431 recipes
Pound Cake373 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.