Why it works: Vanilla and coconut match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,294 recipes. Both carry ethyl caproate, which smells fruity, apple peel. The science ↓
Kiss Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the custard
Boil the sweet milk in a custard kettle.
Stir in the sugar and cornstarch dissolved in a little cold water or milk.
Add this mixture to the well-beaten and strained yolks of the eggs.
Turn into a buttered mold sprinkled with 1 tablespoon of sugar.
Bake and serve
Beat the egg whites to a stiff froth with the pulverized sugar and vanilla; spread on top of the pudding.
Set in a 400°F (200°C) oven and brown.
Remove, sprinkle with grated coconut, and cool for 3 to 4 hours before serving.
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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Vanilla + coconuttop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,294 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
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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 + coconuttop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,648 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 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
- Yolks thicken the custard while whites form the browned meringue topping.
- Cornstarch
- Thickens the milk mixture into a sliceable pudding as it cooks.
- Sweet milk
- Forms the liquid base of the pudding custard.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the custard and helps the meringue stay stable and crisp when browned.
The step that matters
Adding the cornstarch mixture to the egg yolks. Pouring the thickened starch into hot custard or yolks too fast can cause lumps or scrambled yolks. Whisk the yolks well and add the mixture gradually so the pudding sets smoothly.
Swap the coconut
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, sugar, egg, vanilla):
- Figfits better
- Peachfits about as well
- Blueberryfits about as well
- Coconutthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against milk, sugar, egg, vanilla. 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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