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Dessert

Corn-starch Pudding

A custard-like pudding made from corn starch, milk, eggs, sugar, spices, and butter.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Nutmeg and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,917 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Corn-starch Pudding

Ingredients

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.

Make the custard

  1. Dissolve the cornstarch in a little cold milk.

  2. Heat the rest of the milk to boiling.

  3. Stir in the dissolved cornstarch.

  4. Boil for 3 minutes, stirring constantly.

  5. Remove from heat.

  6. Stir in the Cottolene while still very hot.

  7. Let it cool.

Prepare the batter

  1. Beat the egg whites and yolks separately until light.

  2. Mix the egg mixture with sugar and spices.

  3. Stir the egg mixture into the cooled cornstarch mixture until smooth.

Bake and serve

  1. Pour into a greased dish.

  2. Bake at 350°F (175°C) for 30 minutes.

  3. Serve cold.

  4. Dust with powdered sugar.

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.

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.

  1. Nutmeg + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together11,917 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Milk + cinnamontop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together12,655 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  3. Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together30,779 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  4. Milk + nutmegtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together14,685 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  5. Egg + nutmegtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together24,744 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

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

Cornstarch
Thickens the milk into a set, creamy custard as it boils.
Milk
Forms the liquid base of the pudding and carries the starch and sugar.
Eggs
Add richness and help the pudding set and hold its structure when baked.
Sugar
Sweetens the pudding and contributes to its tender texture.
Cottolene
Adds fat that gives the custard a smoother, richer mouthfeel.

The step that matters

Boil the cornstarch mixture for 3 minutes while stirring constantly. Starch granules only swell and thicken fully at a boil, and constant stirring prevents lumps and scorching on the bottom of the pan. Stopping early leaves the custard thin and grainy.

“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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