Why it works: Sugar and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 43,450 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓
Frozen Plum Pudding and Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Make the custard base
Dissolve the powdered gelatin in the boiling water.
Cook together the sugar and cold water until they form a fine thread.
Add this syrup to the beaten yolks of the eggs; beat until cool.
Add the gelatin to the mixture.
Fold and freeze
Fold in the whipped cream.
Fold in the raisins and nuts.
Freeze the mixture.
Pack and serve
When ready to pack, add the candied fruits in alternate layers.
If a sauce is desired, serve whipped cream sweetened and flavored with vanilla.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 4 of 8 ingredients. The other 4 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 4 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Grape | 1/2 cup (76g) | 62 |
| Cream | 1 tbsp (15ml) heavy | 51 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Water | not in our table | 0 |
| Nut | not in our table | 0 |
| Meat | not in our table | 0 |
| Fruit | not in our table | 0 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
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. See the original page.
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.
-
Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
-
Sugar + raisintop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,481 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
-
Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Meat + eggtop 22% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,432 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
-
Raisin + eggtop 23% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,556 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Yolks thicken the base and add richness and structure to the frozen mixture.
- Powdered gelatine
- Sets the mixture so it holds its shape when frozen and sliced.
- Whipped cream
- Adds air and fat, giving the frozen pudding a light, creamy texture.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the base and lowers the freezing point, keeping the texture soft.
- Mixed chopped nut meats
- Add crunch and contrast to the soft, creamy frozen texture.
The step that matters
Beat the syrup into the yolks until cool. Hot syrup added too quickly can scramble the egg yolks, and the mixture must cool before the gelatine and cream are folded in so the cream does not melt and deflate.
Swap the raisin
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, cream, meat, egg):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinthe original
- Coconutfits about as well
- Figfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, cream, meat, egg. 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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