Why it works: Milk and corn are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,955 recipes. Both carry hexanal, which smells green, grassy. The science ↓
Kiss Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Make the custard
In a saucepan, combine one quart milk, three tablespoons corn starch, yolks of four eggs, half cup sugar, and a little salt.
Put part of the milk, salt, and sugar on the stove and let it boil.
Dissolve the corn starch in the remaining milk.
Stir the mixture into the milk, and while boiling add the yolks.
Flavor with vanilla.
Make the frosting
Beat whites of four eggs to a stiff froth, add half a cup sugar, and flavor with lemon.
Spread the frosting on top of the pudding.
Bake and serve
Bake in the oven until browned, saving a little frosting to moisten the top.
Sprinkle grated coconut on top.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 5 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Milk | 1 cup (244ml) whole | 149 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| 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.
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.
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Milk + corntop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,955 recipes
Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).
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Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
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).
-
Corn + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together7,168 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
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base of the custard that the starch thickens.
- Corn starch
- Thickens the milk into a smooth, sliceable custard as it boils.
- Eggs
- Yolks enrich and thicken the custard; whites whip into a stable frosting that browns in the oven.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the custard and the frosting, and helps stabilize the whipped egg whites.
The step that matters
Adding the yolks to the boiling mixture. Egg yolks can scramble or curdle if they meet overly hot liquid without enough stirring. Stirring constantly while the starch mixture boils lets the yolks thicken it evenly and keeps the custard smooth.
“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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