Why it works: Milk and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,187 recipes. Both carry ethyl caproate, which smells fruity, apple peel. The science ↓
Cream Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Make the pudding
Heat 1 pint of milk in a double boiler.
Moisten 4 tablespoons of cornstarch with a little extra milk, then add to the hot milk and stir until smooth.
Stir in ½ cup of sugar.
Pour the mixture over the well-beaten whites of 4 eggs while hot.
Add a pinch of salt and 1 teaspoon of vanilla.
Pour into a mold and let cool.
Make the custard
For the custard, combine the yolks of 4 eggs, 3 tablespoons of sugar, a pinch of salt, and 1 pint of milk in a saucepan.
Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until thickened.
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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Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,187 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
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Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Milk + eggtop 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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Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 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 hot milk into a smooth, sliceable pudding as it gelatinises.
- Egg whites
- Beaten into the hot mixture to add lightness and structure to the pudding.
- Egg yolks
- Thicken the custard as they set during gentle cooking and add richness.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base of both the pudding and the custard.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the pudding and custard.
The step that matters
Cook the custard over low heat, stirring constantly. Egg yolks set at a low temperature and can curdle or scramble if overheated or left unstirred. Constant stirring spreads heat evenly so the custard thickens smoothly.
“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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