Why it works: Milk and molasses are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 21% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,243 recipes. Both carry furaneol, which smells caramel, strawberry. The science ↓
Boiled Corn-meal Pudding, Without Eggs
Ingredients
Directions
Bring 1 quart of milk to a boil in a large pot.
Stir in 1½ cups of well-sifted cornmeal and 1 teaspoon of salt.
Add 1 cup of molasses, ½ cup of chopped suet, and 1 teaspoon of baking soda.
Tie the mixture tightly in a cloth, leaving room for it to swell.
Boil for 4 hours.
Serve with sweet 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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Milk + molassestop 21% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together7,243 recipes
Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Indian meal (cornmeal)
- Forms the bulk and body of the pudding as its starch sets during boiling.
- Molasses
- Adds sweetness, dark color and a rich, caramel-like flavor.
- Suet
- Adds fat, which keeps the pudding moist and tender as it cooks.
- Baking soda
- Reacts to create gas bubbles that help the pudding rise and swell.
The step that matters
Tie the mixture tightly in a cloth, leaving room for it to swell. The pudding must be sealed firmly so it holds its shape in boiling water, but with enough room for the baking soda to produce gas and expand the batter. Too tight and it may burst; too loose and it may leak or turn out 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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