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Dessert

Indian Pudding

A cornmeal pudding made with milk, eggs, molasses, suet or butter, raisins, and ginger, baked slowly.

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

Indian Pudding

Oven, in the book's wordsA slow oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a slow oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

  1. Wet the cornmeal in some of the milk.

  2. Scald the remaining milk and stir in the cornmeal.

  3. Once thoroughly scalded, add ½ cup of cold milk and the other ingredients.

Bake

  1. Mix in raisins and ginger to taste.

  2. Bake in a slow oven at 300°F (150°C) for 2 hours.

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

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

  2. Raisin + gingertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,242 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  3. Sugar + molassestop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,225 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  4. Molasses + raisintop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together3,577 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  5. Sugar + raisintop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together12,481 recipes

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

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Cornmeal
Thickens the milk as it scalds, giving the pudding its body and a soft, spoonable texture.
Eggs
Set during baking to give the pudding structure and a custard-like firmness.
Molasses
Adds deep sweetness and a dark color while also contributing to the pudding's flavor.
Milk
Forms the liquid base that the cornmeal thickens and the eggs set into a custard.
Suet or butter
Adds fat, which contributes richness and a tender mouthfeel to the pudding.

The step that matters

Scalding the milk with the cornmeal. Cornmeal must be stirred into hot, scalded milk so its starch thickens evenly; adding it to cold milk or skipping the thorough scald can leave lumps and a thin, grainy texture.

Swap the ginger

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, sugar, egg, molasses, butter, raisin):

  1. Cinnamonfits better
  2. Nutmegfits better
  3. Gingerthe original
  4. Clovefits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against milk, sugar, egg, molasses, butter, raisin. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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.

More indian pudding recipes

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