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Dessert

High-summer Pudding

A chilled fruit and bread pudding with plums, peaches, blackberries, and a gelatin‑based fruit mixture.

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Why it works: Blackberry brandy and cherry brandy share more aroma than cooks usually use. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. The science ↓

High-summer Pudding

Time8 hours to 24 hours chilling

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the mold

  1. Line a 2-quart bowl or mold with plastic wrap, smoothing it onto the bottom and sides so that the plastic hangs 1 inch over the sides.

Cook the fruit

  1. In a small bowl, mix cranberry juice and brandy, kirsch or orange juice, and sprinkle gelatin over the surface; let stand 5 minutes until softened.

  2. Combine plums, sugar and gelatin mixture in a medium-sized saucepan.

  3. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring for 3-4 minutes until the gelatin dissolves.

  4. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 7 minutes.

  5. Add peaches and simmer for about 5 minutes longer, until the peaches are almost tender.

  6. Stir in blackberries, lemon zest and cinnamon and simmer 3-4 minutes longer, until the berries begin to release their juice.

  7. Refrigerate.

Assemble and chill

  1. Arrange bread slices in the bottom of the bowl or mold, cutting as needed and fitting them tightly together.

  2. Arrange more slices all around the sides of the dish, fitting them together tightly and smoothly.

  3. Spoon the fruit mixture into the center of the dish, tilting the dish to distribute the fruit evenly, taking care not to dislodge the bread.

  4. If the bread extends more than 1/4 inch above the layer of fruit, trim it with a knife.

  5. Cover the fruit with another layer of bread, patting it down firmly.

  6. Stack several saucers or small plates on the bread to weight down the pudding.

  7. Refrigerate for at least 8 hours or up to 24 hours.

Unmold and serve

  1. Invert the bowl over a serving plate, tugging the overhanging plastic wrap to loosen the pudding from the dish.

  2. Center the pudding on the serving plate and peel off the plastic wrap.

  3. Serve immediately, cut into wedges.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

641Calories
20 gProtein
4 gFat
147 gCarbs

Counts 13 of 14 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 13 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Cherry Brandy1 cup (138g)87
White Bread1 slice (30g) white79
Raspberry1 cup (123g)64
Blackberry Brandy1 cup (144g)62
Orange1 medium (131g)62
Blackberry1 cup (144g)62
Peach1 medium (150g)59
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Cranberry1 cup raw (100g)46
Black Plum1 medium (66g)30
Gelatin1 envelope (7g)23
Lemonjuice of 1 lemon (48ml)12
Cinnamon1 tsp ground (2.6g)6
Cocktailnot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

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. Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1 recipe

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  2. Plum + peachtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together163 recipes

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

  3. Cranberry + orangetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together230 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).

  4. Cranberry + peachtop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together42 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  5. Cranberry + plumtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together21 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Gelatin
Sets the juices and fruit into a firm, sliceable pudding that holds its shape when unmolded.
Plums
Add tart flavor and body, and their pectin helps the fruit mixture hold together.
Peaches
Contribute sweetness, aroma and soft texture to the fruit layer.
Blackberries
Add color, tartness and juice that soaks into the bread.
White bread
Absorbs the fruit juices and gives the pudding its structure and soft layers.
Sugar
Sweetens the fruit and helps draw out juices as it cooks.

The step that matters

Weighting and chilling the pudding. Pressing the bread down and chilling for at least 8 hours lets the bread soak up the juices and the gelatin set firmly, so the pudding holds its shape when unmolded.

Swap the plum

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cranberry, blackberry brandy, cherry brandy, orange, gelatin, sugar, peach):

  1. Vanillafits better
  2. Pineapplefits better
  3. Blackberryfits about as well
  4. Plumthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against cranberry, blackberry brandy, cherry brandy, orange, gelatin, sugar, peach. 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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