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 ↓
Queen's Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Make the base
Combine one pint of fine bread crumbs, one cup sugar, one quart milk, the yolks of four eggs, the rind of one lemon, and a piece of butter the size of an egg.
Bake the mixture until just done.
Top and finish
Beat the whites of the eggs and the juice of the lemon well.
Spread jelly or preserves on the top of the pudding, then the froth.
Bake very little, just to brown the top.
Serve cold with cream.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 5 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Milk | 1 cup (244ml) whole | 149 |
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Lemon | juice of 1 lemon (48ml) | 12 |
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.
-
Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Bread + milktop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together11,466 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).
-
Bread + eggtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together22,662 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
-
Milk + lemontop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,053 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Bread crumbs
- Soak up the milk and set into a soft, tender body.
- Eggs
- Yolks help set the custard; whites whipped into a froth add lightness on top.
- Milk
- Provides the liquid that forms the custard with the crumbs and eggs.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the top brown lightly in the oven.
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat for a softer, more tender crumb.
The step that matters
Bake the top very little. Egg whites whipped into a froth set and brown quickly, and over-baking dries the custard and collapses the light topping. A short bake is enough to just brown the surface.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (bread, sugar, milk, butter, egg):
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Peachfits about as well
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against bread, sugar, milk, butter, 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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