Why it works: Milk and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Green-corn Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the corn
Score the kernels and cut them from the cob, scraping off any remaining corn.
Mix and bake
In a bowl, combine the corn with milk, beaten eggs, flour, butter, sugar, and salt.
Pour the mixture into a well-greased earthen dish.
Bake in a hot oven (400°F / 200°C) for 2 hours.
Serve
Serve hot with plenty of fresh butter.
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.
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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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Corn + milktop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,955 recipes
Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Corn + flourtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,165 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Corn + buttertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,345 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
Flour and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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
- Sweet green corn
- Provides the main body and natural sweetness of the pudding.
- Eggs
- Set when baked, giving the pudding its firm, custard-like structure.
- Milk
- Supplies moisture and creaminess, cooking into a soft custard with the eggs.
- Flour
- Thickens the liquid and helps the pudding hold together when baked.
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat, softening texture and carrying flavour.
The step that matters
Baking the custard. Eggs set as they heat, so baking too long or too hot can make the pudding dry, curdled, or rubbery. Watch for a set centre rather than relying only on the clock.
“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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