Why it works: Butter and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 118,967 recipes. Both carry decanal, which smells soap, orange peel. The science ↓
Preserve 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
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Make the batter
In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar.
Add the preserves and mix well.
Beat in the eggs one at a time until fully incorporated.
Bake
Pour the mixture into a pastry shell.
Bake until set and golden brown.
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 + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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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
- Eggs
- Set the custard-like filling as they cook, giving structure and richness.
- Butter
- Creamed with sugar to create a tender, rich texture and fat for flavor.
- Sugar
- Creams with butter for a light base and adds sweetness.
- Preserves
- Add fruit sweetness, flavor, and moisture to the filling.
The step that matters
Beat in the eggs one at a time until fully incorporated. Adding eggs gradually lets each one emulsify into the creamed butter and sugar, keeping the batter smooth. Dumping them in at once can cause curdling and an uneven, dense texture.
“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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