Why it works: Molasses and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 21% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,243 recipes. Both carry furaneol, which smells caramel, strawberry. The science ↓
Old Fashioned Indian 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.
Prepare the mixture
Mix together Indian meal, molasses, and salt.
In a pot, scald the skimmed milk and water together until boiling.
Add the meal and molasses mixture to the boiling milk, stirring constantly for 5 minutes.
Bake
Transfer the mixture to a pudding pan and bake in a 350°F (175°C) oven for 30 minutes.
Pour in the cold milk without stirring and bake for an additional 4 hours.
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.
-
Molasses + milktop 21% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together7,243 recipes
Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Indian meal
- Cornmeal provides the main body and thickens the pudding as it cooks.
- Molasses
- Adds sweetness, dark color, and a deep caramel-like flavor.
- Skimmed milk
- Forms the liquid base that the cornmeal thickens into a custard-like texture.
- Cold milk
- Poured on top without stirring, it creates a separate layer that bakes into a creamy top.
The step that matters
Pour in the cold milk without stirring. Leaving the cold milk undisturbed lets it sit on top of the thick cornmeal mixture, so it bakes into a creamy layer rather than mixing in and thinning the base.
“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.
More indian pudding recipes
You might also like
Molasses Cookies96 recipes
Molasses Cake90 recipes
Molasses Sponge Cake9 recipes
White Cake431 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.