Why it works: Raisin and cinnamon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,390 recipes. Both carry 1-octen-3-ol, which smells mushroom, earthy. The science ↓
Rice Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare and bake
Mix all the ingredients except the cinnamon.
Pour the mixture into a buttered baking dish.
Sprinkle with cinnamon and bake at 350°F (175°C) until thick and brown.
Serve
Serve cold.
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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Raisin + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,390 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
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Rice + cinnamontop 4% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,137 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Rice + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,374 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Milk + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,655 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
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Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together30,779 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Sugar and cinnamon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 30,779 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
- Boiled rice
- Forms the bulk of the pudding and gives it a soft, starchy body.
- Beaten egg
- Sets with heat as the baking proceeds, thickening the milk into a firm custard.
- Milk
- Provides the liquid that becomes the creamy base as it thickens.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the top brown during baking.
- Raisins
- Add sweetness and a chewy texture throughout the pudding.
The step that matters
Bake until thick and brown. The beaten egg must cook fully to set the mixture. Pulling the dish too early leaves it loose and runny, while the sugar on the surface browns as it bakes.
Swap the raisin
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (rice, sugar, milk, egg, cinnamon):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinthe original
- Figfits about as well
- Coconutfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against rice, sugar, milk, egg, 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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