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 ↓
“snow Drift” Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Make the pudding
Dissolve the cornstarch in a little of the milk.
Heat the remaining milk in a double boiler.
Once hot, stir in the dissolved cornstarch and the extract.
Finish and chill
In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff.
Fold the egg whites into the pudding mixture.
Pour into a serving dish and chill until ready to serve.
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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Milk + sugartop 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).
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
- Cornstarch
- Thickens the milk as it heats, giving the pudding its body.
- Egg whites
- Beaten until stiff and folded in, they add lightness and an airy texture.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base that the cornstarch thickens into pudding.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness to the pudding.
The step that matters
Fold the egg whites into the pudding mixture. Stiff egg whites hold air that gives the pudding its lightness. Folding gently, rather than stirring, keeps that air from being pressed out, so the texture stays light.
“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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