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 ↓
Green Corn Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Remove the kernels from the corn cobs and pound them well.
Make the batter
In a bowl, combine the corn, milk, eggs, flour, butter, and salt. Mix until well combined.
Pour the mixture into a well-greased baking dish.
Bake and serve
Bake in a preheated oven at 400°F (200°C) for 1.5 hours.
Serve with roast beef, mashed potatoes, and stewed tomatoes.
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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Corn + milktop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,955 recipes
Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).
-
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).
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Corn + buttertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,345 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
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
- Corn
- Provides the bulk of the pudding and its sweet, starchy body.
- Eggs
- Set during baking to bind the mixture into a custard-like texture.
- Flour
- Thickens the mixture so it holds its shape rather than running out.
- Milk
- Adds moisture and richness, helping the pudding stay tender as it bakes.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richer flavor and a softer, more tender crumb.
The step that matters
Pound the corn thoroughly. Breaking up the kernels releases their starch and juices into the batter, so the pudding thickens evenly and holds together when baked rather than separating into loose pieces.
“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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