Why it works: Cinnamon and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,189 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. The science ↓
Chocolate Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
Beat the egg yolks and sugar together until light.
Add breadcrumbs, baking powder, grated chocolate, vanilla, cinnamon, and cloves, and mix well.
Gently fold in the beaten egg whites.
Cook and serve
Pour the mixture into an airtight pudding mold.
Boil for 1½ hours.
Serve hot with hard sauce or vanilla 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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Cinnamon + clovetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,189 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
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Vanilla + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,287 recipes
Shared aroma: 4-methoxybenzaldehyde (sweet, anise).
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Chocolate + vanillatop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,020 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
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Vanilla + clovetop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,049 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
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Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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
- Eggs
- Yolks add richness and the beaten whites trap air that gives the pudding its lift and lightness.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the yolks become light and thick when beaten.
- Breadcrumbs
- Provide bulk and a soft, tender body by absorbing moisture from the mixture.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas during cooking, helping the pudding rise and stay open in texture.
- Grated chocolate
- Supplies the main flavour and a rich, dense character to the pudding.
The step that matters
Gently fold in the beaten egg whites. The whites hold a foam of trapped air that gives the pudding lift. Stirring vigorously knocks out those bubbles, so the pudding turns dense and heavy instead of light.
Swap the clove
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar, chocolate, vanilla, cinnamon):
- Nutmegfits better
- Cardamomfits better
- Clovethe original
- Allspicefits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sugar, chocolate, vanilla, cinnamon. 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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