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Dessert

Marshmallow Cocoanut Cream Pudding

A sweet pudding made with coconut, marshmallows, and whipped cream.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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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 ↓

Marshmallow Cocoanut Cream Pudding

Ingredients

Directions

Make the custard

  1. Beat the egg until light, then add the sweet milk.

  2. Mix the sugar, salt, and cornstarch together and add to the egg mixture.

  3. Pour the mixture into a double boiler and cook until thick, stirring constantly.

  4. Once thick, remove from heat and add vanilla, butter, and coconut.

Mold and serve

  1. Pour into individual molds that have been dipped in cold water.

  2. Once the pudding is set, unmold onto serving dishes.

  3. Quarter the marshmallows and fold them into the whipped cream.

  4. Top the pudding with the whipped cream mixture and serve cold.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Vanilla + coconuttop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,294 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

  2. Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,187 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

  3. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  4. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  5. Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together35,032 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

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

Cornstarch
Thickens the milk mixture into a smooth pudding as it cooks.
Eggs
Add richness and help the custard set when heated.
Sweet milk
Forms the liquid base that the cornstarch thickens.
Sugar
Sweetens the pudding and balances its flavor.
Whipping cream
Adds richness and a light texture to the topping.
Marshmallows
Soften into the whipped cream, adding sweetness and a soft, airy body.

The step that matters

Cook until thick while stirring constantly. Cornstarch thickens only when heated, and it can scorch or form lumps if left unstirred. Constant stirring in a double boiler keeps the custard smooth and evenly thickened.

Swap the coconut

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, milk, sugar, vanilla, butter, cream):

  1. Strawberryfits about as well
  2. Coconutthe original
  3. Figfits about as well
  4. Peachfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against egg, milk, sugar, vanilla, butter, cream. 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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