Why it works: Bread and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,232 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
French Bread Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Make the custard base
Scald the milk and pour it over the bread crumbs.
Separate the eggs and beat the yolks with the sugar.
Add to the bread crumbs.
Add the salt and the butter, melted.
Pour into a buttered baking dish.
Set in a pan of hot water.
Bake and finish
Bake in a moderate oven until firm.
When cooked, spread with jelly.
Beat the whites of the eggs stiff.
Add two tablespoonfuls of powdered sugar and beat together.
Cover the pudding with the meringue and bake in a cool oven until nicely browned.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 6 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Milk | 1 cup (244ml) whole | 149 |
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Bread + milktop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together11,466 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).
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Bread + eggtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together22,662 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
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Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 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 set the custard and whites, beaten stiff, form the airy meringue topping.
- Bread crumbs
- Absorb the hot milk and form the soft body of the pudding.
- Milk
- Moistens the crumbs and, with the eggs, sets into a tender custard.
- Butter
- Adds richness and a smooth, tender texture to the custard.
- Powdered sugar
- Dissolves easily into the whites, stabilising the meringue and adding sweetness.
The step that matters
Beat the whites of the eggs stiff. Under-beaten whites will not hold their structure and the meringue may collapse or weep. Stiff whites trap air, which expands in the oven and gives a light topping that browns well.
“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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