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Dessert

Cherry Tapioca Pudding

A chilled dessert of cherries, pearl tapioca, and a whipped cream‑egg custard.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Why it works: Cream and sugar 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 ↓

Cherry Tapioca Pudding

Ingredients

Directions

Make the pudding

  1. Drain a pint can of cherries.

  2. Soak a cup of pearl tapioca in two cups of cold water until the water is absorbed.

  3. Simmer the tapioca with the juice of the cherries for one-half hour.

  4. Add the cherries to the simmering mixture.

  5. Turn the mixture into a mould and set aside.

Make the sauce and serve

  1. When cold, serve with a sauce made of one cup of cream whipped stiff.

  2. Mix the sauce with the stiff white of one egg, one-half cup powdered sugar, and flavor to taste.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

178Calories
7 gProtein
11 gFat
14 gCarbs

Counts 3 of 4 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 3 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Cream1 tbsp (15ml) heavy51
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Waternot 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 a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

  2. Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together122,807 recipes

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

  3. Cream + eggtop 24% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together42,166 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

Cream and egg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 42,166 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

Pearl tapioca (in the method)
Thickens the cherry juice as it simmers, setting the pudding into a soft, jelly-like body.
Cherries (in the method)
Provide the main fruit flavor and tartness that stand out against the sweet, creamy sauce.
Cream
Adds richness and a light, airy texture when whipped stiff for the sauce.
Egg white
Whipped to a stiff foam, it lightens the sauce and adds body.
Powdered sugar
Sweetens the sauce and dissolves smoothly into the cream and egg white.

The step that matters

Simmering the tapioca in the cherry juice. Tapioca starch thickens only as it is heated in liquid, and it needs the full simmering time to swell and turn clear. Stopping early leaves a grainy, watery pudding that will not set firmly when cooled.

“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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