Why it works: Butter and milk 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 ↓
Corn Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a slow oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Scrape the corn from the cobs.
In a bowl, beat the yolks and whites of the eggs separately.
Mix the sugar and flour with the butter.
Bake
Combine the corn, egg mixture, sugar-flour mixture, salt, pepper, and milk.
Pour the mixture into a baking dish.
Bake at 350°F (175°C) for 30 to 45 minutes.
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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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Corn + milktop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,955 recipes
Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).
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Corn + peppertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,324 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Corn + flourtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,165 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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
- Eggs
- Set the custard and add structure and richness as the pudding bakes.
- Corn
- Provides the main body, sweetness, and tender texture of the pudding.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base that sets with the eggs into a soft custard.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and a softer, more tender crumb.
- Flour
- Lightly thickens the custard so it holds together when baked.
The step that matters
Beat the egg yolks and whites separately. Beating the whites separately and folding them in keeps the pudding light. Whites whipped into the batter trap air that expands in the oven, while the yolks add richness and help the custard set.
“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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