Why it works: Nutmeg and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,917 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓
Chocolate 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 base
In a saucepan, combine the chocolate, nutmeg, and cinnamon.
Pour in the milk and stir well. Cover and bring to a boil.
Remove the lid, stir the mixture, and press out any lumps until smooth.
Return to heat and gradually stir in the sugar while boiling hot.
Cool and bake
Set aside to cool completely.
Once cool, stir in the beaten eggs vigorously.
Pour the mixture into a baking dish and bake in a 350°F (175°C) oven, preferably in a pan of boiling water.
Serve
Serve cold.
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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Nutmeg + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together11,917 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
-
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).
-
Chocolate + cinnamontop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,808 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
-
Chocolate + sugartop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,404 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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
- Chocolate
- Provides the chocolate flavour and the body of the pudding.
- Eggs
- Set during baking to give the pudding its firm, custard-like structure.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base that the eggs set in, adding richness and creaminess.
- White sugar
- Sweetens the pudding and adds to its smooth, soft texture.
The step that matters
Stirring in the eggs. Eggs must be beaten light and stirred into a cooled base, not a boiling one, so they do not scramble. Baking gently in a water bath then lets the proteins set evenly into a smooth custard.
“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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