Why it works: Milk and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Baked Indian Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare the batter
Mix the cornmeal, molasses, and salt in a bowl.
Pour in the scalded milk, melted butter, and beaten eggs; stir well.
Bake
Transfer the mixture to a deep pudding dish and bake at 300°F (150°C) for 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes, pour in the cold milk.
Continue baking very slowly for 5 to 6 hours.
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.
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 + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Molasses + milktop 21% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together7,243 recipes
Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
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Molasses + buttertop 30% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together8,123 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Yellow cornmeal
- Thickens the pudding as its starch softens and swells in the hot liquid.
- Eggs
- Set as they bake, binding the pudding into a sliceable, custard-like texture.
- Molasses
- Adds sweetness, dark color and a deep, caramel-like flavor.
- Milk
- Provides the liquid that cooks the cornmeal into a soft, creamy texture.
- Butter
- Adds richness and a smoother, silkier mouthfeel.
The step that matters
Continue baking very slowly for 5 to 6 hours. Low, slow heat lets the cornmeal soften fully and the eggs set gently. Higher heat can make the custard curdle, puff unevenly, or dry out before the texture develops.
“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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