Why it works: Cinnamon and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,917 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓
Rice Pudding Without Eggs
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Combine two quarts of milk, two‑thirds of a cupful of rice, a cupful of sugar, a piece of butter as large as a walnut, a teaspoonful of cinnamon, a little nutmeg, and a pinch of salt.
Put the mixture into a deep pudding‑dish, well buttered.
Bake and serve
Set the dish into a moderate oven.
Stir the pudding once or twice until it begins to cook.
Let it remain in the oven for about two hours, until it is the consistency of cream.
Serve cold.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 8 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Rice | 1 cup cooked (158g) white | 206 |
| Milk | 1 cup (244ml) whole | 149 |
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Walnut | 1 walnut half (4g) | 26 |
| Nutmeg | 1 tsp ground (2.2g) | 12 |
| Cinnamon | 1 tsp ground (2.6g) | 6 |
| 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.
-
Cinnamon + nutmegtop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together11,917 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
-
Rice + cinnamontop 4% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,137 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
-
Walnut + nutmegtop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,230 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
-
Walnut + cinnamontop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,147 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
-
Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Rice
- Its starch thickens the milk as it cooks, giving the pudding body.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base that the rice cooks in and becomes the creamy custard.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the pudding brown lightly at the surface.
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat, and keeps the dish from sticking.
The step that matters
Stir the pudding once or twice as it begins to cook. Rice grains and milk solids settle to the bottom of the dish while heating. A few gentle stirs early on keep the rice distributed so the texture stays even instead of dense at the base.
Swap the walnut
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, rice, sugar, butter, cinnamon, nutmeg):
- Almondfits better
- Chestnutfits about as well
- Pistachiofits about as well
- Walnutthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against milk, rice, sugar, butter, cinnamon, nutmeg. 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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