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 ↓
Caramel Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Make the caramel
Boil the loaf sugar and cold water in a saucepan until light brown.
Pour the caramel into a charlotte or plain timbale mold, coating the inside by turning the mold.
Make and steam the custard
Beat the eggs in a bowl, then add the sugar, flavoring, and milk, stirring until the sugar dissolves.
Strain the custard into the mold and cover with greased paper.
Steam very slowly for about 40 minutes.
Serve
Carefully turn out the pudding; the caramel will run off when inverted.
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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Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Sugar + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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
- Set the custard into a firm, sliceable body as they cook.
- Milk
- Provides the liquid base that gives the custard its soft, creamy texture.
- Loaf sugar
- Melts and caramelizes to form the browned sauce that coats the pudding.
- Castor sugar
- Sweetens the custard and helps it blend smoothly into the milk and eggs.
The step that matters
Steam very slowly. Gentle, low heat lets the egg proteins set gradually, giving a smooth custard without curdling, bubbles, or a rubbery texture.
“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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