Name: Steamed Chocolate Pudding
Ingredients: 1 egg; ½ cup sugar; 1 teaspoon shortening; ½ cup milk; 4 squares chocolate, melted; 2 teaspoons baking powder; 1 cup flour, sifted

Why it works: Sugar and chocolate are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 15,404 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓

Steamed Chocolate Pudding

Ingredients

Directions

Make the batter

In a bowl, combine the egg, sugar, shortening, milk, melted chocolate, baking powder, and sifted flour, then mix until well combined.

Steam and serve

Pour the mixture into a greased pudding mold.
Steam for 1 hour.
Serve with your choice of sauce.

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.

Sugar + chocolatetop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together15,404 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Milk + chocolatetop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together9,128 recipes

Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).
Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together78,219 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together92,116 recipes

Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together106,462 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Milk and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 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

Flour: Provides the main structure that holds the pudding together as it sets.
Egg: Binds the batter and helps it set firm while steaming.
Baking powder: Releases gas during cooking so the pudding rises and turns light.
Chocolate: Gives the pudding its chocolate flavour and dark colour.
Sugar: Adds sweetness and contributes to a tender crumb.
Milk: Adds moisture so the batter pours and the pudding stays soft.

“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.