Why it works: Raisin and nutmeg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,377 recipes. Both carry alpha-terpineol, which smells lilac, floral. The science ↓
Baked Indian Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Make the cornmeal base
Boil 1 quart of milk and add coarse sea salt.
Sift in 1 cup of cornmeal and boil for 10 minutes.
Remove from heat and add the remaining milk.
Add the eggs and bake
When lukewarm, stir in the beaten eggs, sugar, and raisins.
Pour into a heated pudding dish and add a lump of butter.
Bake at 300°F (150°C) for 3 hours.
When browned, spread butter on top and sift sugar over it.
Serve
Serve hot.
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.
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Raisin + nutmegtop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,377 recipes
Shared aroma: alpha-terpineol (lilac, floral).
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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Sugar + raisintop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,481 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Raisin + milktop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,155 recipes
Shared aroma: decanoic acid (acides aroma).
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Nutmeg + milktop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together14,685 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Set when baked, giving the pudding its firm, custard-like structure.
- Cornmeal
- Thickens the milk as it boils, giving the pudding its body.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base that cooks with the cornmeal and sets into a soft custard.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the top brown during baking.
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat, and browns the top when spread over it.
The step that matters
Add the eggs when lukewarm. Egg proteins scramble and curdle in very hot mixtures. Stirring the beaten eggs in at lukewarm temperature lets them blend smoothly so they set evenly during the long bake.
Swap the raisin
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar, nutmeg, milk, butter):
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits about as well
- Lemonfits about as well
- Raisinthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sugar, nutmeg, milk, butter. 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.
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