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 ↓
Raspberry Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare the raspberries
Sprinkle the sugar over the raspberries.
Make the custard
Heat the milk in a double boiler until boiling.
In a bowl, mix the beaten egg yolks with the cornstarch and a little cold milk until smooth.
Stir the egg mixture into the boiling milk until it thickens.
Pour the thickened mixture over the raspberries.
Top and bake
Beat the egg whites to stiff peaks and spread over the top.
Brown in a 400°F (200°C) oven.
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 + 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
- Egg yolks
- Thicken the milk mixture into a smooth, set custard when heated.
- Egg whites
- Whipped to stiff peaks, they form a light topping that puffs and browns in the oven.
- Cornstarch
- Thickens the milk and yolk mixture as it heats, giving the custard body.
- Raspberries
- Provide tart fruit flavor and moisture beneath the custard.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the raspberries and balances their tartness.
The step that matters
Stir the egg mixture into the boiling milk until it thickens. Egg yolks can curdle or scramble if overheated or added too quickly, so the mixture should be stirred constantly while thickening. Cornstarch also needs to reach a boil to reach full thickening power.
“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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