Why it works: Milk and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Baked Corn Meal Pudding, Without Eggs
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 batter
Combine cornmeal and molasses in a large bowl and beat well.
Add boiling milk, salt, and powdered ginger, and mix thoroughly.
Stir in finely chopped suet or butter until well incorporated.
Bake and serve
Butter a brown earthen pan and pour the mixture in, letting it stand until it thickens.
Before baking, pour 2 cups of cold milk over the mixture without stirring.
Bake in a preheated oven at 300°F (150°C) for 3 hours.
Serve warm with hard sauce.
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 + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Molasses + gingertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,116 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Milk + gingertop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,519 recipes
Shared aroma: methyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).
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Molasses + milktop 21% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together7,243 recipes
Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
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Ginger + buttertop 26% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,152 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Yellow cornmeal
- Forms the body of the pudding and thickens as it absorbs the liquid.
- Cooking molasses
- Adds sweetness and a deep, dark color during the long bake.
- Milk
- Hydrates the cornmeal and gives the pudding a soft, custardy moisture.
- Suet or butter
- Adds fat, which gives the pudding richness and a tender texture.
The step that matters
Letting the mixture stand before baking. Standing lets the cornmeal absorb liquid and thicken, so the batter sets properly. Pouring the cold milk over without stirring keeps a layered top and a creamier base as it bakes.
Swap the ginger
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (molasses, milk, butter):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Nutmegfits better
- Clovefits about as well
- Gingerthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against molasses, 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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