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 ↓
Obanqe Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the oranges
Peel and cut six good-sized Messina oranges into small pieces, add one cup of sugar, and let stand.
Make the custard
In one quart of nearly boiling milk, stir in two tablespoonfuls of corn starch moistened with a little cold water, and the yolks of three eggs.
Let the mixture cool, then pour over the orange pieces.
Frost and bake
Make a frosting from the egg whites and sugar, spread over the pudding, and bake in the oven until browned.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 5 of 6 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
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 |
| Orange | 1 medium (131g) | 62 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Water | not in our table | 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.
-
Milk + corntop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,955 recipes
Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).
-
Corn + orangetop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together586 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
-
Milk + orangetop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,696 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
-
Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Sugar + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Sugar and milk 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
- Messina oranges
- Supply the fresh citrus flavor and bright acidity that cut the sweetness of the pudding.
- Milk
- Forms the creamy liquid base that the custard sets from.
- Corn starch
- Thickens the hot milk as its starch granules swell, giving the pudding body.
- Eggs
- Yolks enrich and thicken the custard, while whites make the frosting that browns in the oven.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the oranges and the frosting and helps the frosting brown.
The step that matters
Stir the corn starch into the nearly boiling milk. Corn starch must be moistened with cold water first, or it clumps when added. It thickens only once heated in liquid, so the milk must be hot enough for the custard to become smooth and set.
Swap the orange
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, milk, corn, egg):
- Vanillafits better
- Coconutfits better
- Figfits better
- Orangethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, milk, corn, egg. 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.
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