Why it works: Milk and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 88,785 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Cornstarch Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Make the pudding
Reserve half a cupful of milk from a quart and put the remainder on the stove in a double boiler.
Mix four large tablespoonfuls of cornstarch and a teaspoonful of salt with the half cupful of milk.
Stir the mixture into the boiling milk and beat well for two minutes.
Cover the boiler and cook the pudding for twelve minutes.
Pour the pudding into a pudding-dish and set in a cool place for half an hour.
Make the meringue sauce
Beat the whites of two eggs to a stiff, dry froth.
Beat the egg whites into two tablespoonfuls of powdered sugar.
Add half of a large tumbler of currant jelly, or any other bright jelly, or any kind of preserved fruit to the mixture.
Serve
Serve the pudding with the sauce, or serve sugar and cream with the pudding instead of a sauce.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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 + 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).
-
Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 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
- Cornstarch
- Thickens the milk into a smooth, set pudding as it cooks.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base of the pudding and is thickened by the cornstarch.
- Eggs
- Whites beaten to a stiff froth give the sauce a light, airy texture.
- Powdered sugar
- Sweetens the egg white froth and helps it hold its structure.
The step that matters
Stirring the cornstarch mixture into the boiling milk. Cornstarch must be fully dispersed in cold milk before it meets heat, or it clumps. Beating while it boils then cooks the starch evenly so the pudding thickens smoothly.
“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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