Why it works: Sugar and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 43,450 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓
Cocoa-nut Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a rather cool oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the filling
Combine water, sugar, and cocoa-nut in a saucepan.
Boil while stirring to prevent burning.
Beat the egg yolks and mix in the cream.
Bake
Line a pie dish with the crust.
Pour the cocoa-nut mixture into the crust and bake at 350°F (175°C) until set.
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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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Egg + creamtop 24% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together42,166 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
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Cocoa + creamtop 25% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together304 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
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Sugar + cocoatop 27% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together956 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Egg and cream barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 42,166 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
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the cocoa-nut mixture thicken as it cooks.
- Egg yolks
- Coagulate on heating to help the filling set and give it structure.
- Cream
- Adds richness and moisture, softening the texture of the filling.
- Desiccated cocoa-nut
- Supplies the main flavour and adds body to the filling.
- Pie crust
- Holds the liquid filling in shape while it bakes.
The step that matters
Boil while stirring. Sugar and dried coconut can scorch on the hot base of the pan. Constant stirring spreads the heat evenly and keeps the mixture from burning before it goes into the crust.
Swap the cocoa
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, egg, cream):
- Almondfits better
- Pistachiofits better
- Chestnutfits better
- Cocoathe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, egg, cream. 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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