Why it works: Clove and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,150 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓
Prune Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the prunes
Mash one pound stewed prunes through a colander.
Boil one pound prunes until tender enough to take out the seeds.
Add two cloves and the juice and rind of one lemon.
Add the hot prunes to the dissolved gelatine.
Make the pudding
Dissolve not quite half a box of gelatine in cold water.
Beat the whites of six eggs stiff, then add three tablespoons white sugar.
Pour into a mould.
Bake fifteen minutes.
Serve
Serve with seasoned cream, whipped, and sherry wine.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 4 of 5 ingredients. The other 1 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 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Lemon | juice of 1 lemon (48ml) | 12 |
| Clove | 1 tsp ground (2g) | 7 |
| Prune | 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.
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.
-
Clove + lemontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together8,150 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
-
Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Egg + lemontop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together44,316 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
-
Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Sugar + clovetop 26% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together17,182 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
Sugar and lemon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 53,532 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
- Prunes
- Provide the main fruit flavour and the body of the pudding once mashed.
- Eggs
- Beaten whites set with heat to give the pudding its light, airy structure.
- Gelatine
- Sets the prune mixture so it holds its shape when turned out.
- White sugar
- Sweetens the pudding and helps stabilise the whipped egg whites.
The step that matters
Beat the egg whites stiff before adding the sugar. Whites must be beaten to firm peaks with the sugar folded in so they trap air. Under-beaten whites collapse and leave the pudding dense rather than light.
Swap the clove
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, egg, lemon):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Nutmegfits better
- Dillfits better
- Clovethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, egg, lemon. 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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