Why it works: Ginger and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,380 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓
Indian Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Make the base
Scald the sweet milk in a saucepan.
Stir in the cornmeal while the milk is boiling, then cook for a few minutes.
Let the mixture stand until nearly cold.
Bake and serve
Add the molasses, beaten eggs, butter, ginger, salt, and cinnamon.
Bake in a 300°F (150°C) oven for 1.5 hours.
After 30 minutes, stir in the cold milk.
Serve with hard sauce.
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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Ginger + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together6,380 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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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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Milk + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,655 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
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Molasses + cinnamontop 11% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,928 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Molasses + gingertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,116 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cornmeal
- Thickens the hot milk into a porridge-like base that gives the pudding its body.
- Eggs
- Set as the pudding bakes, binding the mixture and giving it a firm, custardy texture.
- Molasses
- Adds sweetness, a deep brown color and a rich, caramel-like flavor.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and a smoother, more tender crumb.
- Milk
- Provides the liquid that the cornmeal thickens and the eggs set.
The step that matters
Let the mixture cool before adding the eggs. Eggs added to very hot cornmeal mixture can scramble or cook unevenly, leaving lumps. Letting it stand until nearly cold lets the eggs blend in smoothly so they set into an even custard as it bakes.
Swap the ginger
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, molasses, egg, butter, cinnamon):
- Nutmegfits better
- Clovefits better
- Allspicefits about as well
- Gingerthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against milk, molasses, egg, butter, cinnamon. 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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