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 ↓
Chocolate Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Make the chocolate mixture
Dissolve the chocolate in the milk over low heat.
Add the sugar and vanilla.
Pour over the breadcrumbs.
Stir in the egg yolks.
Finish and steam
Gently fold in the beaten egg whites.
Pour the mixture into a buttered basin and steam for 1 hour.
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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Chocolate + sugartop 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
- Breadcrumbs
- Soak up the chocolate milk to form the body of the pudding.
- Eggs
- Set the pudding and add structure, with whites folded in for lightness.
- Chocolate
- Provides the main flavour and richness of the pudding.
- Milk
- Melts the chocolate and moistens the breadcrumbs for a soft texture.
The step that matters
Gently fold in the beaten egg whites. Folding keeps the air beaten into the whites, which helps the pudding rise and stay light. Stirring vigorously would deflate the foam and make the pudding dense.
“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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