Why it works: Sugar and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 21% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 122,807 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Prune Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no cooking times; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare the prunes
Boil the prunes until swollen.
Mash the boiled prunes through a colander.
Beat the mashed prunes with the powdered sugar.
Make the pudding
Beat the egg whites until very light.
Fold the beaten egg whites into the prune mixture.
Pour the mixture into a baking dish.
Bake for 20 minutes.
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.
-
Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Prunes
- Provide the main body, flavour and moisture once boiled and mashed into the pudding.
- Egg whites
- Whipped to a light foam, they lift and set the pudding, giving it an airy texture.
- Powdered sugar
- Sweetens the prune purée and dissolves easily into it.
The step that matters
Folding in the beaten egg whites. Egg whites hold air only while whipped, so folding gently keeps the foam intact. Stirring vigorously deflates the whites and makes the pudding dense rather than light.
“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 prune pudding recipes
You might also like
White Cake431 recipes
Pound Cake373 recipes
Orange Bundt Cake349 recipes
Spice Cake344 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.