Name: Swedish Rice Pudding II
Ingredients: 1 cup uncooked rice; 1/2 cup sugar; 1/2 teaspoon salt; 6 cups milk; 1 whole blanched almond; 1 teaspoon vanilla extract; ground cinnamon for garnish (optional); 2 eggs, beaten; 1 1/2 cups cottage cheese; 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese; 2 cups grated Cheddar cheese, divided

Why it works: Almond and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,514 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓

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.

Almond + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together3,514 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Vanilla + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,287 recipes

Shared aroma: 4-methoxybenzaldehyde (sweet, anise).
Almond + vanillatop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together3,961 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Rice + cinnamontop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,137 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together19,187 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Rice: Starch that swells and softens in milk, thickening the pudding as it cooks.
Milk: Liquid that cooks with the rice, forming the creamy body of the pudding.
Sugar: Adds sweetness and helps give the pudding a soft, tender texture.

The step that matters

Cooking until thickened over gentle heat. Rice thickens slowly in milk as its starch swells. Simmering gently over water in a double boiler prevents scorching on the bottom and curdling, so stirring frequently keeps the milk from sticking and burning.

“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.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Rice	1 cup cooked (158g) white	206
Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Cheddar Cheese	1 oz (28g)	113
Parmesan Cheese	1 oz (28g)	110
Cottage Cheese	1/2 cup (113g) 2%	98
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Vanilla	1 tsp extract (4ml)	12
Almond	1 almond (1.2g)	7
Cinnamon	1 tsp ground (2.6g)	6
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

Swedish Rice Pudding II