Name: Cinnamon Bread Pudding with Whiskey Sauce
Ingredients: bread pudding; 5 cup cinnamon bread pieces (1"); 1/4 cup raisins or dried currants; 2 eggs; 2 egg whites; 3/4 cup sugar; 2 1/2 cup hot skim milk; whiskey sauce; 1 cup sugar; 1 cup water; 1/4 cup whiskey; 1/4 cup nonfat vanilla yogurt

Why it works: Cinnamon and raisin are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,390 recipes. Both carry 1-octen-3-ol, which smells mushroom, earthy. The science ↓

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.

Cinnamon + raisintop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,390 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
Cinnamon + vanillatop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,287 recipes

Shared aroma: 4-methoxybenzaldehyde (sweet, anise).
Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together19,187 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together35,032 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Cinnamon + milktop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together12,655 recipes

Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 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

Eggs: Set the custard as they cook, giving the pudding its structure and body.
Egg whites: Add protein to help the custard set firm and hold its shape.
Cinnamon bread: Soaks up the custard, forming the body and texture of the pudding.
Hot skim milk: Provides the liquid that the bread absorbs and that the eggs set into custard.
Sugar: Sweetens the custard and the sauce, and helps with browning on the surface.
Raisins: Add pockets of moisture and concentrated sweetness throughout the pudding.

The step that matters

Bake until the liquid is absorbed. Underbaking leaves liquid custard that does not set, while overbaking can make the eggs tough and dry the pudding. Watch for the liquid to be absorbed rather than relying only on the time range.

Swap the raisin

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (bread, cinnamon, egg, sugar, milk, sauce, vanilla):

Figfits better
Peachfits about as well
Raisinthe original
Pearfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against bread, cinnamon, egg, sugar, milk, sauce, vanilla. 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.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Yogurt	170g plain Greek	100
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Grape	1/2 cup (76g)	62
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Vanilla	1 tsp extract (4ml)	12
Cinnamon	1 tsp ground (2.6g)	6
Pudding	not in our table	0
Whiskey	not in our table	0
Sauce	not in our table	0
Water	not in our table	0

Cinnamon Bread Pudding with Whiskey Sauce