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 ↓
Chocolate Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Make the custard
Scald the milk and grated chocolate together in a saucepan.
Add the yolks of the eggs and mix well.
Pour the mixture into a baking dish.
Bake at 350°F (175°C) for 30 minutes.
Make the meringue and finish
Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.
Gradually add 4 tablespoons of sugar.
Spread the egg white frosting over the top of the pudding.
Return the pudding to the oven to brown the frosting.
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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Chocolate + vanillatop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,020 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
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Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Chocolate + sugartop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,404 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Milk + chocolatetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,128 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).
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, and whites whip into the meringue topping.
- Sweet milk
- Forms the liquid base of the pudding and carries the chocolate.
- Grated chocolate
- Gives the pudding its chocolate flavour and richness.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the pudding and stabilises the whipped egg white topping.
The step that matters
Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Egg whites must be whipped to stiff peaks to trap air and hold the topping's shape. Adding sugar gradually helps the foam stay stable and glossy, so it browns evenly without weeping.
“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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