Name: Puerto Rican Pudding
Ingredients: 2 cans evaporated milk; raisins (as many or few as desired); 1 stick butter, melted; 1 tsp vanilla flavoring; 1 tsp salt; 1 to 2 cups sugar (or to taste); 2 eggs; 1 can cream of coconut; 1 qt. regular milk; 1½ loaves bread or equivalent (preferably old or stale bread); cinnamon powder (optional)

Why it works: Vanilla and coconut match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,294 recipes. Both carry ethyl caproate, which smells fruity, apple peel. 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.

Vanilla + coconuttop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,294 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together41,516 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Vanilla + sugartop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together35,032 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together43,450 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
Evaporated milk + sugartop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together804 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

Vanilla and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 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

Bread: Forms the body of the pudding, soaking up the custard as it bakes.
Eggs: Set the custard, giving the pudding structure as it bakes.
Evaporated milk: Adds creaminess and richness to the custard.
Cream of coconut: Adds sweetness, richness and a coconut flavor to the custard.
Sugar: Sweetens the custard and helps it brown on top.
Butter: Adds fat for richness and a tender texture.

The step that matters

Bake until the center is set. Eggs set as they heat, so pulling the pudding too early leaves a loose, wet center. A toothpick coming out clean shows the custard has firmed through.

Swap the raisin

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (evaporated milk, butter, vanilla, sugar, egg, cream, coconut):

Bananafits better
Pineapplefits better
Strawberryfits better
Raisinthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against evaporated milk, butter, vanilla, sugar, egg, cream, coconut. 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.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Coconut	1/2 cup shredded (40g)	283
Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Grape	1/2 cup (76g)	62
Cream	1 tbsp (15ml) heavy	51
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Vanilla	1 tsp extract (4ml)	12
Cinnamon	1 tsp ground (2.6g)	6
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

Puerto Rican Pudding