Why it works: Orange and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,696 recipes. Both carry 1-octen-3-one, which smells mushroom, metallic. The science ↓
Orange Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the oranges
Remove the rind from the oranges, avoiding excess white pith, and place it in a mortar.
Break the 2 penny sponge cakes into a bowl.
Scoop the insides of the oranges into a sieve over the bowl.
Rub the juice and as much pulp as possible through the sieve onto the cakes.
Let the cakes soak.
Pound the orange rinds finely in the mortar.
Make the pudding
Mix the rinds with the crumbled 4 sponge cakes and soak in ⅔ pint of milk.
Beat the soaked cakes with the juice and pulp until well combined.
Whisk the 2 eggs and 3 egg yolks until frothy.
Add the eggs and yolks to the cake mixture along with the candied orange peel and sugar to taste. Mix lightly.
Bake and garnish
Transfer the mixture to a baking dish.
Bake in a moderate oven (350°F / 175°C) until set.
Garnish the top with thin slices of candied orange peel.
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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Orange + milktop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,696 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
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Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Milk + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Orange + sugartop 20% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together19,212 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Milk and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 77,875 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Sponge cakes
- Soak up the juice and milk to form the body of the pudding.
- Eggs
- Bind the mixture and set it into a tender, sliceable custard when baked.
- Egg yolks
- Add richness and help the pudding set smooth and creamy.
- Milk
- Moistens the cake crumb and keeps the pudding soft and tender.
- China oranges
- Provide the juice, pulp and rind that flavour the pudding.
- Candied orange peel
- Adds concentrated orange flavour and chewy bits throughout the pudding.
The step that matters
Soaking the cakes. The cakes must soak long enough to absorb the liquid fully; otherwise dry pockets remain and the pudding bakes unevenly and loses its tender texture.
Swap the orange
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, egg, sugar):
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Raisinfits better
- Orangethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against milk, egg, sugar. 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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