Name: Cocoanut-pudding with Sponge-cake
Ingredients: 1 fresh cocoanut; 1 pound stale sponge-cake; 1 tablespoon butter, melted; enough sweet milk to make 1 quart; 4 eggs; 4 heaping tablespoons sugar; powdered sugar for serving

Why it works: Butter and milk 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 ↓

Cocoanut-pudding with Sponge-cake

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

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

Prepare the coconut

Remove the shell and brown skin from the coconut and grate it finely.
Save the milk of the coconut and strain it.

Make the pudding

In an earthen dish, combine the grated coconut and stale sponge cake.
Add the melted butter to the coconut milk and enough sweet milk to make 1 quart; pour it over the coconut and sponge cake.
Beat the eggs thoroughly and mix them with the coconut and cake.
Add the sugar and mix well.
Pour the mixture into an earthen dish and bake for 30 minutes at 350°F (175°C).
Serve with powdered sugar on top.

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.

Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together81,283 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together118,967 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together98,233 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together88,785 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Milk + sugartop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together77,875 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

Milk and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 77,875 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: Beaten eggs bind the mixture and set as the pudding bakes, giving it structure.
Stale sponge cake: Soaks up the liquid and gives the pudding a soft, absorbent body.
Coconut (in the method): Adds coconut flavor and texture, and its milk moistens the pudding.
Sugar: Adds sweetness and helps the pudding brown lightly in the oven.
Butter: Adds richness and fat, contributing to a tender texture and flavor.

“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.