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Dessert

Amsterdam Pudding

A Dutch almond and fruit cake with Schiedam, baked at 350°F.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 13 ingredients
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Why it works: Almond and raisin are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,781 recipes. Both carry 2-nonanone, which smells fruity, floral. The science ↓

Amsterdam Pudding

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).

  2. In a bowl, mix the almonds, butter, half of the sugar, cream, and eggs until smooth.

  3. In another bowl, combine all the fruit, remaining sugar, and Schiedam.

Assemble and bake

  1. Butter a cake mold and layer the almond mixture and fruit alternately until all is used.

  2. Bake for about 2 hours.

Serve

  1. Carefully turn out and serve hot or cold.

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. Almond + raisintop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,781 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).

  2. Almond + orangetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,125 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  3. Orange + appletop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,230 recipes

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

  4. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

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

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

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

What each ingredient does

Sweet almonds
Provide the bulk and rich, nutty flavour of the pudding.
Fresh butter
Adds richness and a tender, moist crumb.
Eggs
Bind the mixture and set it as it bakes, giving structure.
Loaf sugar
Sweetens the pudding and helps brown the surface.
Thick cream
Adds moisture and richness to the almond mixture.
Orange marmalade
Adds sweetness, acidity and citrus aroma through the layers.

The step that matters

Layering the almond mixture and fruit. Alternating the layers evenly distributes the fruit through the pudding. Packing the layers too loosely can leave gaps or uneven texture after baking.

Swap the currant

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (almond, butter, sugar, orange, raisin, apple, cream):

  1. Vanillafits better
  2. Figfits better
  3. Apricotfits better
  4. Currantthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against almond, butter, sugar, orange, raisin, apple, cream. 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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