Why it works: Milk and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Baked Corn Meal Pudding, Without Eggs
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.
Prepare the batter
In a bowl, mix the cornmeal and molasses until well combined.
Add the boiling milk, salt, ginger, and suet or butter, and mix thoroughly.
Butter a brown earthen pan and pour the mixture in, letting it stand until it thickens.
Bake and serve
Before baking, pour the cold milk over the mixture without stirring.
Bake in a preheated oven at 300°F (150°C) for three hours.
Serve warm 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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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.
-
Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Molasses + gingertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,116 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
-
Milk + gingertop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,519 recipes
Shared aroma: methyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).
-
Molasses + milktop 21% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together7,243 recipes
Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
-
Ginger + buttertop 26% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,152 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Yellow cornmeal
- Forms the thick body of the pudding as it absorbs liquid and sets.
- Cooking molasses
- Adds sweetness, dark color, and a rich flavor during the long bake.
- Suet or butter
- Adds fat for richness and a tender, moist texture.
- Milk
- Hydrates the cornmeal so the mixture thickens and turns custardy as it bakes.
- Powdered ginger
- Contributes warm, spicy aroma to the pudding.
The step that matters
Pour the cold milk over without stirring. Leaving the cold milk floating on top keeps it from mixing into the batter, so it gently cooks and forms a layer that bakes into a softer, creamier texture beneath a set crust.
Swap the ginger
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (molasses, milk, butter):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Nutmegfits better
- Clovefits about as well
- Gingerthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against molasses, milk, butter. 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.
More cornmeal pudding recipes
You might also like
Ginger Cookies213 recipes
Molasses Cookies96 recipes
Ginger Cake93 recipes
Molasses Cake90 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.