Why it works: Rice and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,137 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓
Milk Puddings
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Cook the rice
Wash the rice and place it in a pan with enough cold water to cover it; bring to a boil, then pour off the water.
Add the milk and sugar to the rice and simmer until the rice is soft, about 15 minutes.
Remove the cinnamon stick and let the mixture cool slightly.
Enrich the base
In a bowl, add the butter to the rice and stir until melted.
Separate the eggs, adding the yolks to the rice one at a time while stirring constantly.
Beat the egg whites until stiff and gently fold them into the rice mixture.
Bake
Grease a small cake tin and coat it with bread crumbs, shaking off the excess.
Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake at 400°F (200°C) for 30 minutes or until golden.
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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Rice + cinnamontop 4% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,137 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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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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Rice + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,374 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Milk + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,655 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
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Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together30,779 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Sugar and cinnamon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 30,779 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
- Rice
- Softens into the thick body of the pudding as it simmers in milk.
- Milk
- Provides the liquid that cooks the rice and forms the creamy custard base.
- Eggs
- Set during baking to give the pudding structure, and whites add lift when folded in.
- Butter
- Adds richness and a smooth, tender texture to the mixture.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the pudding and helps it brown in the oven.
The step that matters
Folding in the egg whites. Stiff whites trap air that gives lift, but overmixing deflates them and makes the pudding dense. Fold gently, just until no white streaks remain.
“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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