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Dessert

Pudding PROFITERoles

A layered dessert of profiteroles, raisins, kirsch, and cream set in a mold.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Cream and gelatin match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,628 recipes. Both carry acetic acid, which smells sour, vinegar. The science ↓

Pudding PROFITERoles

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Prepare 50 small profiteroles as for Croquembouche.

  2. Peel and cook the Malaga raisins in a syrup at 20 degrees (about 68°F).

Make the cream

  1. In a saucepan, combine 40 egg yolks, 1½ cups sugar, and 1 quart of boiled cream.

  2. Soak the gelatin in cold water.

  3. Heat the cream mixture until it thickens, then stir in the gelatin and strain it.

  4. Place a cylindrical mold in crushed ice.

  5. Add ⅓ cup of kirsch to the cream mixture.

Assemble and set

  1. Once cooled, pour a layer of cream into the mold, about ¾ inch thick.

  2. Arrange a crown of profiteroles on top and sprinkle the raisins between the profiteroles and the mold sides.

  3. Add successive layers of cream, profiteroles, and raisins until the mold is full.

  4. Drain any water from the ice, then cover with a lid and more ice.

  5. Unmold the pudding after one hour and serve.

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. Cream + gelatintop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,628 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

  2. Sugar + gelatintop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,778 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  3. Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

  4. Raisin + sugartop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together12,481 recipes

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

  5. Raisin + gelatintop 22% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together36 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Heavy cream
Forms the creamy body of the pudding, which sets firm as it cools.
Gelatin
Sets the cream so the pudding holds its shape when unmolded.
Profiteroles
Hollow pastry shells that add light, crisp contrast to the smooth cream.
Malaga raisins
Add chewy texture and concentrated sweetness between the cream layers.
Kirsch
Adds a strong cherry-like aroma to the cream.

The step that matters

Pour the cream only once it has cooled. Warm cream melts the surrounding ice unevenly and can make the profiteroles sink or float out of place. Cooled cream holds each layer where it is poured, and the gelatin sets it firm enough to unmold cleanly.

Swap the raisin

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, cream, gelatin):

  1. Vanillafits better
  2. Strawberryfits better
  3. Raspberryfits about as well
  4. Raisinthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, cream, gelatin. 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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