Why it works: Brandy and wine are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,427 recipes. Both carry gamma-nonanolactone, which smells coconut, sweet. The science ↓
Almond Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the batter
Beat the butter and sugar until light.
Whisk the eggs until thick, then gradually add them to the butter and sugar mixture.
Stir in the pounded almonds, wine, brandy, and rose-water, adding half of each at a time.
Let the mixture sit in a cool place for a short time.
Bake and finish
Line your baking plates with a rich pastry, rolling it thinner in the center than at the edges.
Bake in a preheated oven at 400°F (200°C).
Once done and cooled, sift white sugar over the puddings.
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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Brandy + winetop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,427 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).
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Butter + almondtop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,245 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
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Rose + almondtop 11% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,465 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Butter + winetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,645 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).
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Brandy + rosetop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together560 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Butter
- Creams with the sugar to give the pudding a rich, tender body.
- Eggs
- Whisked to thick foam, they add structure and lift to the batter.
- Sweet almonds
- Pounded fine, they supply the main flavour and body of the filling.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the batter and helps it cream with the butter.
The step that matters
Adding the eggs gradually. Adding whisked eggs slowly to the butter and sugar keeps the emulsion from splitting, so the batter stays smooth and holds air.
“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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