Name: Cocoa-nut Pudding
Ingredients: 1 cocoa-nut, grated very fine; ½ cup cocoa-nut milk; 2 cups rich, sweet cream; sugar (equal weight to cocoa-nut); 5 or 6 eggs, well beaten; grated lemon (to taste); thin cream or potato paste (for lining the dish)

Why it works: Cream and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 43,450 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓

Cocoa-nut Pudding

Ingredients

1 cocoa-nut, grated very fine
½ cup cocoa-nut milk
2 cups rich, sweet cream
sugar (equal weight to cocoa-nut)
5 or 6 eggs, well beaten
grated lemon (to taste)
thin cream or potato paste (for lining the dish)

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Prepare

Grate the coconut very fine.
Line a baking dish with thin cream or potato paste.

Make and bake the pudding

Combine coconut milk, cream, sugar, beaten eggs, and grated lemon in a bowl.
Pour the mixture into the lined dish.
Bake at 350°F (175°C) for 1 hour, covering with paper if necessary when partly baked.

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.

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.

Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together43,450 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
Cocoa + milktop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together643 recipes

Shared aroma: methyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).
Milk + lemontop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together19,053 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Milk + creamtop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together29,399 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together53,532 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

Sugar and lemon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 53,532 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: Set the custard and give the pudding its structure as they cook.
Cocoa-nut: Supplies the main flavour and body of the pudding.
Rich, sweet cream: Adds fat and richness, giving the pudding a softer, smoother texture.
Sugar: Adds sweetness and helps soften the set custard.

The step that matters

Bake at 350°F (175°C) for 1 hour, covering with paper if necessary when partly baked. Eggs set through gentle, steady heat; too much heat makes the custard curdle, weep, or turn rubbery. Covering the top when it has partly baked helps keep it from browning too much before the centre sets.