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 ↓
Baked Macaroni Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Cook the macaroni
Boil the milk with the sugar, butter, and salt.
Add the macaroni broken into inch lengths.
Simmer with the lid on for about 30 minutes.
Bake and serve
Beat the yolks and cream together, add vanilla, and mix with the macaroni by shaking without a spoon.
Bake in a buttered pan for about 30 minutes or until set.
Serve with stewed raisins in wine sauce.
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 + vanillatop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,187 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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
- Macaroni
- Forms the starchy body of the pudding, absorbing milk as it simmers.
- Milk
- Cooks the pasta and forms the liquid base that sets into a custard.
- Eggs or egg yolks
- Set during baking to bind the pudding into a sliceable custard.
- Cream
- Adds richness and fat, giving a softer, silkier texture.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the pudding and aids browning in the baked surface.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and flavor while greasing the dish.
The step that matters
Simmer the macaroni gently with the lid on. Pasta cooked in milk can scorch or stick to the pan if heat is too high. A covered, gentle simmer lets the macaroni soften and absorb the liquid evenly before the egg mixture is 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.
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