Why it works: Milk and arrowroot work together. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 817 recipes. Both carry 2-methylbutyraldehyde, which smells malty, chocolate. The science ↓
Arrowroot Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the custard
Beat the yolks of the eggs.
Boil the milk with the sugar.
Mix the arrowroot with the cold milk.
Pour the arrowroot mixture into the boiling milk and let it cool slightly.
Beat in the eggs.
Cook and serve
Transfer to a basin, cover tightly, and boil for 20 minutes, or bake at 400°F (200°C) for 10 to 15 minutes.
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 + arrowroottop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together817 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyraldehyde (malty, chocolate).
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Egg + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Milk + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Sugar + arrowroottop 20% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,073 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
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Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Milk and sugar 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
- Arrowroot
- Starch that thickens the hot milk into a smooth, set custard.
- Eggs
- Add richness and help the pudding set firm as it cooks.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base of the custard and supplies its moisture.
- Loaf sugar
- Adds sweetness to the milk base.
The step that matters
Let the arrowroot mixture cool slightly before beating in the eggs. If the mixture is still very hot when the eggs go in, the egg proteins can scramble and leave the custard grainy instead of smooth. Cooling slightly lets the eggs blend in evenly and set gently as the pudding cooks.
Swap the arrowroot
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, milk, sugar):
- Sweet potatofits better
- Capsicumfits better
- Asparagusfits better
- Arrowrootthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, milk, 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.
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