Why it works: Corn and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,955 recipes. Both carry hexanal, which smells green, grassy. The science ↓
Chocolate Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
In a large bowl, mix the chocolate and corn starch.
Gradually add the boiling milk, stirring constantly.
Cook the mixture over medium heat for 5 minutes, stirring until thickened.
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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Corn + milktop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,955 recipes
Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).
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Chocolate + milktop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,128 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).
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Chocolate + corntop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together987 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Chocolate
- Supplies the chocolate flavour and dark colour.
- Corn starch
- Thickens the milk as its granules swell and gelatinize when heated.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base that the starch thickens into a creamy pudding.
The step that matters
Adding the milk gradually while stirring. Stirring the boiling milk in slowly and constantly keeps the cornstarch dispersed, so it thickens smoothly instead of forming lumps. Starch granules clump when they hit hot liquid all at once.
“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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