Why it works: Milk and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 88,785 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Delmonico Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Make the pudding
Dissolve cornstarch in cold water.
In a saucepan, combine milk and dissolved cornstarch, and bring to a boil for 3-4 minutes until thick.
In a bowl, beat egg yolks with sugar until light.
Pour the thickened mixture into a dish and bake at 350°F (175°C) for 30 minutes.
Top and brown
Beat egg whites until stiff, then gradually add 6 tablespoons sugar.
Spread the beaten egg whites on top of the pudding and brown under the broiler.
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 + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Milk + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Milk and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 77,875 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
- Cornstarch
- Thickens the milk into a set, spoonable custard base as it heats.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base that the cornstarch thickens into the pudding.
- Egg yolks
- Add richness and help the custard set and hold together when baked.
- Egg whites
- Whipped into stiff foam that forms a light, airy topping.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the beaten whites become glossy and stable.
The step that matters
Broil the meringue briefly. The sugar in the egg whites caramelizes and darkens very quickly under a broiler, so the topping can scorch in seconds. Watch closely and remove it once it is golden brown.
“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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