Why it works: Butter and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Almond 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.
Prepare
Blanch the almonds and pound them finely.
Add the rose water and mix well.
Make the filling
Beat the eggs to a stiff froth, then add the sugar, cracker crumbs, melted butter, and citron.
Mix in the pounded almonds and milk until combined.
Bake
Pour the mixture into a pudding dish lined with pastry.
Bake for 30 minutes at 350°F (175°C).
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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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Almond + buttertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,245 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
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Almond + rosetop 11% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,465 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Almond + milktop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,800 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Beaten to a stiff froth, they give the pudding structure and lift as it bakes.
- Sweet almonds
- Pounded fine, they supply the main body and nutty flavor of the pudding.
- Milk
- Provides liquid that moistens the mixture and helps it set into a custard.
- Melted butter
- Adds fat, which enriches the texture and keeps the pudding tender.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the pudding and helps brown its surface in the oven.
The step that matters
Beat the eggs to a stiff froth. Whipped eggs trap air that gives the pudding lift and a light texture. If they are under-beaten, the pudding will be denser and less airy after baking.
“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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