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Dessert

Farina Pudding

A custard-like pudding made with milk, farina, eggs, sugar, butter, vanilla, and baked until set.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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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 ↓

Farina Pudding

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderately hot oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderately hot oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Make the farina base

  1. Boil 1 cup of milk.

  2. Gradually stir in 1 tablespoon of farina while boiling, and continue stirring until thick.

  3. Add a pinch of salt.

  4. Set aside to cool.

Make the custard

  1. In a bowl, stir 4 whole eggs with ¾ cup of sugar.

  2. Add 1 tablespoon of butter.

  3. Mix in the cooled farina.

  4. Stir in 3 cups of milk and ½ teaspoon of vanilla.

Bake

  1. Pour into a pudding pan.

  2. Bake in a 350°F (175°C) oven until brown on top and set, about 25 to 30 minutes.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,187 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

  2. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  3. Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together35,032 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  4. Butter + vanillatop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,050 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  5. Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together118,967 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

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

Farina
Thickens the milk into a stiff base that gives the pudding its body.
Eggs
Set during baking to give the pudding its firm, custard-like structure.
Sugar
Sweetens the pudding and helps it brown on top.
Butter
Adds richness and a soft, tender texture.
Milk
Forms the liquid base that cooks with the farina and eggs.

The step that matters

Cooking the farina until thick. Farina must be stirred constantly while boiling so it thickens evenly without lumps. Thickening it fully before adding the eggs gives the pudding a smooth, stable 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.

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