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Dessert

Angel Pudding

A sweet custard-like pudding made with water, sugar, salt, cornstarch, egg whites, sweet milk, sugar, egg yolks, and vanilla.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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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 ↓

Angel Pudding

Ingredients

Directions

Make the white layer

  1. Combine water, sugar, salt, and cornstarch in a pot.

  2. Boil for a few minutes.

  3. Remove from heat.

  4. Stir in the beaten egg whites until well combined.

  5. Return to heat.

  6. Boil for one more minute.

Make the custard

  1. Combine sweet milk, sugar, and egg yolks in a saucepan.

  2. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until thickened.

  3. Add vanilla extract.

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.

  1. Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,187 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

  2. Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together35,032 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  3. Egg + milktop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together88,785 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  4. Sugar + milktop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together77,875 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  5. Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked 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 water and sugar mixture into a set, pudding-like base.
Egg whites
Whip into the hot mixture to give the pudding a light, airy texture.
Egg yolks
Thicken the milk custard and add richness.
Sweet milk
Forms the body of the custard, adding creaminess and moisture.
Sugar
Sweetens both layers and helps the custard stay smooth.

The step that matters

Cook the custard over low heat, stirring constantly. Egg yolks can curdle or scramble if they get too hot too fast. Gentle heat and constant stirring let the custard thicken evenly and stay 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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