Why it works: Corn and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,955 recipes. Both carry hexanal, which smells green, grassy. The science ↓
Orange Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Make the pudding
Sprinkle sugar on the orange pieces.
Dissolve corn starch in a little water and add it to the oranges.
Add the boiling milk and yolks of the eggs to the mixture.
Frost and brown
Beat the egg whites until stiff, then gradually add 1 cup of sugar to make frosting.
Spread the frosting over the pudding and place it in a 400°F (200°C) oven to 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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Corn + milktop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,955 recipes
Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).
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Orange + corntop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together586 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Orange + milktop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,696 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
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Egg + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Sugar + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Sugar and milk 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
- Oranges
- Provide the main fruit flavor and moisture for the pudding.
- Corn starch
- Thickens the milk and orange mixture into a soft, sliceable custard.
- Egg yolks
- Enrich the custard and help it set with a smooth, rich texture.
- Egg whites
- Whip into a stiff, sweet foam that browns in the oven as a topping.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the pudding and the frosting, and helps the meringue stay stable.
The step that matters
Adding the boiling milk and yolks. Egg yolks can scramble if added to very hot liquid too quickly. Adding the hot milk gradually while stirring, and keeping the mixture moving, helps the yolks warm evenly and keeps the custard smooth.
Swap the orange
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (corn, sugar, egg, milk):
- Vanillafits better
- Coconutfits better
- Figfits better
- Orangethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against corn, sugar, egg, milk. 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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