Why it works: Corn and milk 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 ↓
Corn Starch Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Make the pudding
In a double boiler, combine 1 pint sweet milk, 2 tablespoons corn starch, and a little salt; bring to a boil.
Add the whites of 3 eggs beaten to a stiff froth; stir.
Pour the mixture into molds and allow to cool.
Make the chocolate layers
For chocolate pudding, remove a portion of the above mixture and add a square of chocolate dissolved in 2 tablespoons milk over the fire and 2 tablespoons sugar; alternate layers of the white and dark parts in a mold and set to cool.
Make the vanilla sauce and serve
To make a vanilla yolk mixture, in 1 pint boiling milk add 3 beaten yolks of eggs with 3 tablespoons sugar thinned by adding 1 tablespoon milk; stir over steam until thickened and flavor with a teaspoon of Royce's vanilla.
Serve with cream or sauce.
Serve in slices with whipped cream or the following.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 6 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Chocolate | 1 oz (28g) semisweet | 155 |
| 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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Corn + milktop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,955 recipes
Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).
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Sugar + chocolatetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,404 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
-
Milk + chocolatetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,128 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).
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Corn + chocolatetop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together987 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
-
Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Corn starch
- Thickens the milk into a set, sliceable pudding as it cooks.
- Eggs
- Whites beaten to a froth lighten the pudding; yolks thicken the vanilla sauce.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and balances the chocolate and milk flavors.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base of the pudding and both sauces.
- Chocolate
- Gives the dark layers their flavor and color.
The step that matters
Stir the vanilla yolk mixture over steam until thickened. Egg yolks thicken as they heat, but overheating can curdle them. Gentle steam heat sets the custard smoothly without scrambling the eggs.
“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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