Name: Boiled Indian Pudding
Ingredients: 1 pint sweet milk; 1 teaspoon salt; 1 tablespoon wheat flour; 10 tablespoons cornmeal; 1 tablespoon butter; 2 tablespoons brown sugar; 1 tablespoon molasses; 4 tablespoons dried berries; 1 teaspoon baking soda

Why it works: Milk and wheat are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,418 recipes. Both carry (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal, which smells cucumber, melon. The science ↓

Boiled Indian Pudding

Ingredients

Directions

In a large pot, combine sweet milk, salt, wheat flour, cornmeal, butter, brown sugar, molasses, dried berries, and baking soda.
Stir well to combine all ingredients.
Bring the mixture to a boil and then reduce heat to simmer.
Cook for 3 hours, or longer if making a larger pudding.

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.

Milk + wheattop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,418 recipes

Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).
Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together81,283 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Sugar + molassestop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together9,225 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Wheat + flourtop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,373 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together124,287 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Flour and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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

Cornmeal: Forms the thick, starchy body of the pudding as it cooks and absorbs the milk.
Sweet milk: Provides the liquid that the cornmeal swells in and gives the pudding its creamy base.
Molasses: Adds deep sweetness and a dark color with a rich, caramel-like flavor.
Dried berries: Add pockets of chewy sweetness and moisture throughout the pudding.
Baking soda: Reacts with the molasses's acidity to lighten the texture and deepen the color.

The step that matters

Cook for 3 hours at a gentle simmer. Cornmeal needs a long, slow cook to fully swell and soften, so the pudding thickens without scorching. Simmering gently, with the pot kept covered and checked for sticking, prevents the milk from boiling over or burning on the bottom.

“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.

Molasses Cookies96 recipes

Molasses Cake90 recipes

Wheat Muffins48 recipes

Whole Wheat Muffins12 recipes

Like knowing why a recipe works?

The 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.

Boiled Indian Pudding