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 ↓
Corn Pudding
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
Grate the corn from the cob.
Beat the eggs in a bowl.
Add the grated corn to the eggs and stir well.
Mix in the butter, sugar, salt, and pepper.
Add the milk and combine thoroughly.
Bake
Pour the mixture into a baking dish and bake at 350°F (175°C) for about 30 minutes.
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 + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Milk + corntop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,955 recipes
Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).
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Corn + peppertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,324 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Butter + corntop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,345 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
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Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Bind the mixture and set it into a custard-like pudding when baked.
- Corn
- Provides the main body, sweetness and texture of the pudding.
- Milk
- Adds moisture and makes the custard soft and creamy.
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat, giving a tender texture and flavor.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the top brown in the oven.
The step that matters
Pour the mixture into a baking dish and bake at 350°F (175°C) for about 30 minutes.. Eggs set as they heat; baking just until the centre is firm keeps the pudding creamy rather than curdled or dry.
“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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