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 ↓
Snow Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Make the gelatine
Soak the gelatine in 1 pint of cold water for one hour.
Place the soaked gelatine over the fire and stir gently until dissolved.
When almost cold, beat the gelatine to a stiff froth using an egg beater.
Beat the egg whites to a stiff froth and add to the gelatine along with the lemon juice and sugar. Mix well and pour into a mold to cool.
Make the custard
For the custard, heat 1 pint of milk with 1 cup of sugar and a small piece of butter until it comes to a boil. Add 1 teaspoon of vanilla and serve hot.
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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Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,187 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Butter + vanillatop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,050 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Lemon + vanillatop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,961 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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
- Gelatine
- Sets the liquid into a light, wobbly structure as it cools.
- Egg whites
- Whipped into a stiff foam, they add lightness and airy volume to the pudding.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity that brightens the sweetness and balances the flavour.
- Milk
- Forms the base of the custard, providing richness and body.
The step that matters
Beating the gelatine to a stiff froth while almost cold. If the gelatine is too warm, the foam will collapse and lose volume; if it is too cold, it may set before it can be beaten smoothly. Timing the beating as it cools keeps the snow light.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar, milk, butter, vanilla):
- Figfits better
- Peachfits better
- Coconutfits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sugar, milk, butter, vanilla. 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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