Why it works: Egg and milk 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 ↓
Russia Cream Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Make the custard
Beat the egg yolks with the sugar.
Dissolve the gelatine in the mixture.
Scald the milk and pour it over the egg mixture.
Boil slightly longer than custard, then strain.
Set and serve
When nearly cool, fold in the beaten egg whites.
Flavor with lemon or vanilla and pour into a mold to cool.
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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Egg + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Milk + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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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
- Eggs
- Yolks thicken the custard and whites, folded in, give the pudding a light, airy texture.
- Milk
- Provides the liquid base that the eggs thicken into a creamy custard.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the custard and helps balance the richness of the eggs and milk.
- Gelatine
- Sets the cooled custard so it holds its shape when turned out of the mold.
The step that matters
Folding in the beaten egg whites. Fold in only when the custard is nearly cool. If it is still hot, the whites deflate and lose the air that makes the pudding light; if it is too cold or already set, the whites will not blend evenly.
“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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