Why it works: Corn and cinnamon work together. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 647 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. The science ↓
Corn Meal Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a slow oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the base
Cook corn meal in milk and water until thick.
In a bowl, combine milk, beaten eggs, sugar, and salt.
Stir in the cooked corn meal and add currants or raisins.
Bake and finish
Pour mixture into a baking dish and bake at 300°F (150°C) until nearly set.
Sprinkle the top with sugar and cinnamon, then return to the oven to finish baking.
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.
-
Corn + cinnamontop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together647 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
-
Milk + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,655 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
-
Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together30,779 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
-
Corn + milktop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,955 recipes
Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).
-
Currant + cinnamontop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,099 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
Sugar and cinnamon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 30,779 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
- Corn meal
- Thickens into a soft, starchy body that gives the pudding its structure.
- Eggs
- Set when baked, binding the pudding into a custard-like texture.
- Milk
- Adds moisture and richness, and helps the pudding set softly.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the pudding and helps brown the sprinkled top.
- Currants or raisins
- Add pockets of sweetness and chewy texture throughout the pudding.
The step that matters
Bake until nearly set, not fully firm. Eggs keep setting as the pudding cools, so removing it while it still jiggles in the center avoids a dry, rubbery texture. The final return to the oven is for finishing the top.
Swap the currant
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (corn, milk, egg, sugar, cinnamon):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits better
- Figfits better
- Currantthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against corn, milk, egg, sugar, cinnamon. 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.
More cornmeal pudding recipes
You might also like
Cornmeal Griddle Cakes24 recipes
Corn Breakfast Cakes20 recipes
Currant Cookies8 recipes
Delicate Cake246 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.