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Dessert

Corn Starch Pudding

A sweet pudding made from eggs, cornstarch, sugar, water, butter, and vanilla.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Sugar and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 35,032 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓

Corn Starch Pudding

Ingredients

Directions

Make the custard

  1. Combine water and sugar in a saucepan.

  2. Bring the mixture to a boil.

  3. Beat the eggs in a bowl.

  4. Add cornstarch to the eggs and mix well.

  5. Slowly pour the hot water mixture into the egg mixture, stirring constantly.

  6. Return the mixture to the saucepan.

  7. Cook over medium heat until thickened.

Finish

  1. Remove from heat.

  2. Stir in butter and vanilla.

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

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

  2. Butter + vanillatop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,050 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  3. Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together118,967 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  4. Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together98,233 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  5. Egg + sugartop 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

Eggs
Set and thicken the pudding as they cook, giving it body and richness.
Cornstarch
Thickens the liquid into a smooth, sliceable pudding when heated.
Sugar
Sweetens the pudding and helps keep the custard smooth.
Butter
Adds fat for a richer mouthfeel and a silkier texture.

The step that matters

Slowly pour the hot water mixture into the egg mixture, stirring constantly. Adding hot liquid to eggs too fast can scramble them. Pouring slowly while stirring gently raises the egg temperature so they blend in smoothly instead of curdling.

“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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