Name: Boiled Indian Pudding
Ingredients: two cups cornmeal; one-half cup flour; one-half cup chopped suet; one-half cups sweet milk; one teaspoon salt; three eggs; two tea- spoons baking powder

Why it works: Milk and tea work together. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 738 recipes. Both carry 4-heptenal, which smells creamy, biscuit. The science ↓

Boiled Indian Pudding

Ingredients

Directions

Mix the batter

Combine two cups cornmeal, one-half cup flour, one-half cup chopped suet, one and one-half cups sweet milk, three eggs, two teaspoons baking powder, and one teaspoon salt.

Boil and serve

Boil in a mold or bag three or four hours, or more.
Serve with maple sugar and cream, or with a thin syrup of brown sugar with a little butter and nutmeg.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

682Calories

27 gProtein

14 gFat

108 gCarbs

What these numbers assume: 4 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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. See the original page.

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.

Milk + teatop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together738 recipes

Shared aroma: 4-heptenal (creamy, biscuit).
Flour + milktop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together78,219 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together106,462 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together88,785 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Flour + teatop 25% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together449 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Flour and milk barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 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

Cornmeal: Forms the thick, sturdy body of the pudding as its starch sets with heat.
Eggs: Bind the batter and set during cooking to give the pudding firmness.
Suet: Adds fat that gives richness and a moist, tender crumb.
Sweet milk: Supplies the liquid that hydrates the cornmeal and keeps the pudding moist.
Baking powder: Releases gas in the batter to lighten the pudding and help it rise.
Flour: Adds extra structure so the pudding holds its shape when turned out.

The step that matters

Boil in a mold or bag for three or four hours, or more. Long, gentle boiling gives the cornmeal starch time to fully swell and gelatinize, and lets the eggs set. Keep the mold sealed and the water at a steady simmer, since water leaking in or boiling too hard can make the pudding soggy or uneven.

“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.

More indian pudding recipes

Baked 36 Boiled 26 Steamed 12 Apple 8 New England 4 Plain 4 See all 344 →

White Cake431 recipes

Pound Cake373 recipes

Orange Bundt Cake349 recipes

Spice Cake344 recipes

Like knowing why a recipe works?

The free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.

Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.

Boiled Indian Pudding