Why it works: Sugar and chocolate are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 15,404 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓
Chocolate Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
In a bowl, mix sugar, egg, and milk until well combined. Stir in melted chocolate.
Sift baking powder with flour and add to the mixture.
Steam and serve
Pour the batter into a suitable steaming dish.
Steam for 2 hours.
Serve with 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.
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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Sugar + chocolatetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,404 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Milk + chocolatetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,128 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).
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Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Milk and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 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
- Flour
- Provides the starch and gluten network that gives the pudding its body and structure.
- Egg
- Binds the batter and sets during steaming to give the pudding firmness.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the batter, helping the pudding rise and become light.
- Milk
- Adds moisture and hydrates the flour so the batter becomes a pourable mixture.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and contributes to the pudding's tender texture.
- Chocolate
- Provides the main flavour and colours the batter.
The step that matters
Sift baking powder with flour and add to the mixture. Baking powder must be evenly distributed through the batter so the pudding rises uniformly. Clumps can cause dense spots or pockets of bitter leavening.
“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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