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 ↓
Indian Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the custard
Heat the milk over low heat in a saucepan.
Add salt and butter.
Stir in the cornmeal and allow the mixture to boil.
Remove from heat and let it cool.
Add sugar, molasses, ginger, and the eggs (except for the reserved egg white).
Bake and finish
Pour the mixture into a baking dish.
Bake in a 350°F (175°C) oven for 1 hour.
Prepare the frosting with the reserved egg white and a little sugar.
Spread the frosting over the pudding.
Return the pudding to the oven until the frosting is light brown.
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.
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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Molasses + sugartop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,225 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Molasses + gingertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,116 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Sugar + gingertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together14,054 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
Sugar and ginger barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 14,054 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
- Thickens the milk as it boils, giving the pudding its body and texture.
- Eggs
- Set during baking to bind the pudding and give it a firm, custardy structure.
- Molasses
- Adds deep sweetness and color, and contributes to browning in the oven.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base that the cornmeal thickens and the eggs set.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and a softer, smoother mouthfeel.
The step that matters
Let the cornmeal mixture cool before adding the eggs. Adding beaten eggs to a very hot mixture can cook them unevenly and cause lumps. Cooling first lets the eggs blend smoothly so the custard sets evenly during baking.
Swap the ginger
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, butter, molasses, sugar, egg):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Nutmegfits better
- Gingerthe original
- Clovefits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against milk, butter, molasses, 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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