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 ↓
Chocolate Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the chocolate and milk
Break the chocolate into small pieces.
Simmer the chocolate with the milk until dissolved.
Make the batter
Cream the butter and sugar together.
Stir in the egg yolks.
Stir in the breadcrumbs.
Stir in the milk.
Stir in the chocolate.
Stir in the vanilla essence.
Whisk the egg whites until stiff.
Gently fold the stiff egg whites into the mixture.
Steam and serve
Pour the mixture into a well-buttered mold.
Cover the mold with greased paper.
Steam the mold for 1 to 1.5 hours.
Alternatively, pour the mixture into six well-buttered dariole molds.
Steam the molds for about 25 minutes.
Serve with custard or vanilla sauce.
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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Chocolate + vanillatop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,020 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
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Butter + milktop 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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Chocolate + sugartop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,404 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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
- Eggs
- Egg yolks enrich and set the pudding, while whisked whites add lightness and rise.
- Breadcrumbs
- Provide the body of the pudding, soaking up liquid to give a soft, tender crumb.
- Butter
- Adds richness and a tender texture when creamed with the sugar.
- Chocolate
- Gives the pudding its flavour and colour, and its richness once melted into the milk.
- Castor sugar
- Sweetens the pudding and helps aerate the butter when creamed.
The step that matters
Folding in the egg whites. Whisked whites trap air that gives lift. Stirring them in vigorously knocks that air out, so fold gently with a spatula to keep the pudding light.
“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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