Skip to main content
Dessert

Cocoanut Cream Pudding

A chilled coconut custard made with coconut, sugar, gelatin, egg whites, milk, cream, and vanilla or lemon flavoring.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Why it works: Milk and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,187 recipes. Both carry ethyl caproate, which smells fruity, apple peel. The science ↓

Cocoanut Cream Pudding

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the coconut

  1. Grate the fresh coconut after peeling, washing, and drying it.

  2. Mix the grated coconut with 2 tablespoons of sugar.

Make the custard

  1. Melt ¾ ounce of gelatin in 1 tablespoon of water.

  2. In a saucepan, combine the egg whites with ½ pint of milk and stir over heat until thickened.

  3. Add 4 tablespoons of sugar to the custard, then mix in the melted gelatin, grated coconut, and milk from the coconut.

Finish and set

  1. Whip ½ pint of cream until stiff and fold it into the coconut mixture.

  2. When nearly cold, add a little vanilla or lemon flavoring.

  3. Pour the mixture into a mold and place it on ice to set.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,187 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

  2. Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together35,032 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  3. Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

  4. Cream + vanillatop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together12,301 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).

  5. Milk + creamtop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together29,399 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 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

Gelatin
Sets the pudding into a firm, sliceable body as it cools.
Egg whites
Thicken the custard base and add structure when heated.
Cream
Whipped to add lightness and a rich, smooth texture.
Coconut (in the method)
Provides the main flavor and body of the pudding.
Milk
Forms the liquid base of the custard, adding richness and softness.

The step that matters

Stir the egg white and milk custard over heat until thickened. Egg whites thicken when heated, but overheating can curdle or scramble them. Heat gently and stir constantly so the custard thickens smoothly before the gelatin and coconut are added.

“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.

You might also like

Vanilla Ice CreamVanilla Ice Cream108 recipesWhite CakeWhite Cake431 recipesPound CakePound Cake373 recipesOrange Bundt CakeOrange Bundt Cake349 recipes