Why it works: Sugar and cream 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 ↓
Chocolate 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
Scald the milk in a saucepan.
Stir in the grated chocolate until dissolved.
Let the mixture cool.
Add the eggs, sugar, and cornstarch dissolved in a little cold milk. Mix well.
Bake and serve
Pour the mixture into a baking dish.
Bake at 350°F (175°C) for 1 hour.
Serve cold.
Top with beaten egg whites mixed with brown sugar or whipped cream if desired.
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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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Chocolate + creamtop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,466 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Chocolate + sugartop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,404 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Milk + chocolatetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,128 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).
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Milk + creamtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together29,399 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base that sets into the body of the pudding.
- Eggs
- Set on heating to give the pudding its structure and creamy richness.
- Cornstarch
- Thickens the custard as it heats, giving a smooth, sliceable texture.
- Grated chocolate
- Supplies the chocolate flavour and some fat, deepening the custard's richness.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the custard and softens the set of the eggs and starch.
The step that matters
Let the mixture cool before adding the eggs. Adding eggs to very hot milk can scramble them, leaving lumps instead of a smooth custard. Cooling the mixture first lets the eggs thicken it gently and evenly.
“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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