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 ↓
Bird's Nest Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Pare, quarter, and core nice tart apples.
Butter a pie tin and slice the apples in it.
Make and bake
Make a batter of one cup cream (sour, not very rich), one teaspoonful soda, one egg, a little salt, and enough flour to make a stiff batter.
Pour the batter over the apples and bake.
Finish and serve
When done, turn the bottom side up and spread thickly with good sweet butter and sugar.
Serve warm.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 2 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Cream | 1 tbsp (15ml) heavy | 51 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
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.
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.
-
Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Apples (in the method)
- Soften during baking and release moisture and tart flavour into the pudding.
- Cream
- Adds moisture and richness, and its acidity activates the soda for a tender crumb.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the sour cream's acid to release gas that lifts the batter.
- Egg (in the method)
- Binds the batter and helps it set firm as it bakes.
- Flour (in the method)
- Provides the structure that holds the stiff batter together.
- Butter (in the method)
- Adds richness and a savoury fat note to the finished top.
The step that matters
Bake the batter promptly after mixing. Soda begins reacting with the sour cream's acid as soon as it is mixed. Delaying the pour and bake lets gas escape early, leaving the pudding flatter and denser.
“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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