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 ↓
Cream Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Make the custard
Scald the milk in a saucepan.
Mix cornstarch with a little milk to create a slurry, then add it to the scalded milk.
Boil the mixture for 4 minutes, stirring constantly.
Add the eggs and sugar, then boil for an additional 7 minutes, and flavor as desired.
Set and serve
Pour into a wet dish and spread 2-3 cups of sugar over the top.
Chill before serving.
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 + 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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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
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base that the other ingredients thicken and flavor.
- Cornstarch
- Thickens the milk as it heats, giving the pudding its body.
- Eggs
- Add richness and help the custard set as it cooks.
- Sugar
- Provides sweetness in the custard and forms the topping.
The step that matters
Stirring while the mixture boils. Cornstarch thickens only when it reaches a boil, and it can scorch and clump on the bottom of the pan. Constant stirring spreads the heat evenly and keeps the starch smooth.
“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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