Name: Almond Chocolate Pudding
Ingredients: two pieces sweet chocolate in one pint milk; half pint bread crumbs; one cup sugar; one-half cup stoned raisins; one-half cup almonds; one pint milk; two well beaten eggs; nutmeg

Why it works: Raisin and almond are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,781 recipes. Both carry 2-nonanone, which smells fruity, floral. The science ↓

Almond Chocolate Pudding

Ingredients

Directions

Make the pudding

Boil two pieces sweet chocolate in one pint milk.
When dissolved, pour over half pint bread crumbs.
Add two well beaten eggs, one cup sugar, grated nutmeg (a little will do), one-half cup stoned raisins, one-half cup almonds (cut not too fine).

Cook and serve

Steam or bake one hour.
Serve with cream.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

967Calories

30 gProtein

25 gFat

155 gCarbs

What these numbers assume: 8 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Chocolate	1 oz (28g) semisweet	155
Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Grape	1/2 cup (76g)	62
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Nutmeg	1 tsp ground (2.2g)	12
Almond	1 almond (1.2g)	7

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

By Chicago. Bethany union church. Woman's society. [from old catalog]. 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.

Raisin + almondtop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,781 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).
Almond + nutmegtop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,115 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Raisin + nutmegtop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,377 recipes

Shared aroma: alpha-terpineol (lilac, floral).
Chocolate + almondtop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,733 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
Milk + breadtop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together11,466 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).

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

What each ingredient does

Eggs: Bind the mixture and help it set into a firm, sliceable pudding as it cooks.
Bread crumbs: Soak up the chocolate milk and give the pudding a soft, cake-like body.
Sweet chocolate: Gives the pudding its chocolate flavour and colour.
Sugar: Adds sweetness and helps soften the texture of the pudding.
Almonds: Add crunch and a nutty aroma against the soft pudding.

Swap the nutmeg

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (chocolate, milk, bread, sugar, raisin, almond, egg):

Cinnamonfits better
Nutmegthe original
Gingerfits less well
Allspicefits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against chocolate, milk, bread, sugar, raisin, almond, 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.