Why it works: Milk and nutmeg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,685 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓
Corn Meal Puffs
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
Into one quart of boiling milk stir eight tablespoonfuls of cornmeal, four tablespoonfuls of powdered sugar and a teaspoonful of nutmeg.
Let the mixture boil for five minutes, stirring constantly to prevent sticking to the saucepan.
Remove from heat and allow to cool.
Stir in six beaten eggs, beaten as light as possible. Mix well.
Bake and serve
Pour the mixture into buttered teacups, nearly filling them.
Bake in a moderate oven for half an hour.
Serve with lemon sauce.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 4 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Milk | 1 cup (244ml) whole | 149 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Nutmeg | 1 tsp ground (2.2g) | 12 |
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 + nutmegtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together14,685 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
-
Nutmeg + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together24,744 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
-
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 + nutmegtop 20% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together23,364 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
Nutmeg and egg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 24,744 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 (in the method)
- Thickens the boiled milk and gives the puffs their body and corn flavor.
- Eggs
- Provide structure and lift as they set in the oven, giving the puffs their airy texture.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base that the cornmeal thickens and the eggs set into.
- Powdered sugar
- Sweetens the batter and adds mild sweetness to the puffs.
The step that matters
Stir in the eggs as light as possible. Beaten eggs trap air that expands and sets in the oven. Overbeating or deflating the batter when adding eggs loses that air, so the puffs rise less and turn denser.
Swap the nutmeg
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, sugar, egg):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Nutmegthe original
- Gingerfits less well
- Allspicefits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against milk, sugar, 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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