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 ↓
Steamed Chocolate Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Make the mixture
Warm the milk in a saucepan and dissolve the chocolate and sugar in it.
Beat the eggs in a bowl and pour the warm chocolate mixture over them.
Add the crumbled sponge cake and mix well.
Steam and serve
Grease a pudding mold and pour the mixture into it.
Steam for 30 minutes.
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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Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,187 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
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Chocolate + vanillatop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,020 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
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Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Sugar + chocolatetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,404 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Chocolate + milktop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,128 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).
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
- Bind the mixture and help it set into a firm, sliceable pudding when steamed.
- Sponge cake
- Soaks up the chocolate custard to give the pudding a soft, tender body.
- Grated chocolate
- Provides the chocolate flavour and richness of the pudding.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base that carries the chocolate and thins the egg mixture.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and balances the bitterness of the chocolate.
The step that matters
Pour the warm chocolate mixture over the beaten eggs. Pouring warm liquid onto eggs gradually, while beating, helps them blend evenly; adding it too fast can scramble the eggs into lumps and leave the pudding grainy.
“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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