Why it works: Milk and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 88,785 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Cornstarch Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Make the pudding
In a double boiler or small bucket, heat the milk until it reaches boiling point.
Add the sugar to the boiling milk.
Dissolve the cornstarch in a little cold milk and add it to the mixture.
Whip the egg whites to stiff peaks and fold them into the mixture.
Cook for a few minutes, then pour into teacups, filling them half full.
Set
Set the teacups in a cool place to set.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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.
-
Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Milk + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 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
- Cornstarch
- Thickens the milk into a smooth, sliceable pudding as it cooks.
- Eggs
- Whipped whites add lightness and airy texture; yolks and whites add body to the custard.
- Sweet milk
- Forms the base liquid that the starch thickens into the pudding.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and softens the flavor of the milk base.
The step that matters
Cooking after adding the cornstarch. Cornstarch needs to reach a simmer and cook for a few minutes to fully thicken and lose its raw starchy taste. Undercooking leaves the pudding thin and chalky, while stirring gently keeps it smooth and prevents lumps from forming.
“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 cornstarch pudding recipes
You might also like
Green Corn Pudding64 recipes
Cornmeal mush12 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.