Why it works: Milk and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 88,785 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Bread and Butter Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Cut 1-inch slices from a small loaf of stale bread.
Butter the slices well and place them in a buttered pudding dish, butter side down.
Make the custard
Beat 3 eggs slightly, add 1 cup sugar, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1 quart milk.
Strain the egg mixture over the bread and let stand for 30 minutes.
Bake and serve
Bake in a slow oven for 1 hour, keeping the dish covered for the first half hour.
Brown well, and serve hot with hard sauce, or any plain sauce.
If liked, 1 cup raisins may be parboiled, seeded, and sprinkled between the layers.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 3 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Milk | 1 cup (244ml) whole | 149 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| 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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Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 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
- Eggs
- Set the custard, binding the milk and bread into a sliceable pudding.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid custard base that soaks into the bread and keeps the pudding moist.
- Bread (in the method)
- Provides structure, and its open crumb soaks up the custard.
- Butter (in the method)
- Adds richness and helps the top brown in the oven.
- Sugar (in the method)
- Adds sweetness and contributes to browning on the surface.
The step that matters
Bake in a slow oven, covered for the first half hour. Gentle heat lets the egg custard set evenly without curdling or turning rubbery. Covering traps steam so the top does not dry out before the bread and custard have set, then uncovering allows browning.
“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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