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 ↓
Custard Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Make the pudding
In a pot, heat ½ quart of milk until nearly boiling.
Dissolve 2 tablespoons of corn starch in cold milk and add to the heated milk along with a little sugar.
When thickened, remove from heat and stir in the beaten whites of 2 eggs.
Make the custard
Make a custard by heating the remaining ½ quart of milk with the yolks of the eggs.
Finish and serve
Pour the custard over the pudding once it has cooled.
For serving, beat the cream until light and puffy, then sweeten and flavor with vanilla.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Corn + vanillatop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,943 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Milk + corntop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,955 recipes
Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).
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 thicken the custard by setting with gentle heat; whites add structure and lightness to the pudding.
- Corn starch
- Swells in hot milk and thickens the pudding into a smooth, set body.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base that the starch and eggs thicken into pudding and custard.
- Cream
- Whipped until light and puffy, adding airy richness to serve with the pudding.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness to the pudding base.
The step that matters
Thickening the pudding with corn starch. Cornstarch only thickens once the mixture reaches a near-boil, so it must be heated enough and stirred constantly to prevent lumps. Remove from heat only after it has clearly thickened.
“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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