Why it works: Milk and bread are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,466 recipes. Both carry 2-undecenal, which smells sweet. The science ↓
Boiled Bread Pudding
7 personsIngredients
Directions
Mix
Make the milk boiling, and pour it on the bread crumbs; let these remain until cold.
Add the other ingredients—1 oz. butter, 3 oz. currants, 1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg, and sugar to taste—ensuring the eggs are well beaten and the currants washed, picked, and dried.
Beat the mixture well.
Boil and serve
Put it into a buttered basin.
Tie the basin tightly with a cloth.
Plunge the basin into boiling water and boil for 1 ¼ hour.
Turn it out of the basin and serve with sifted sugar.
Soak any odd pieces or scraps of bread overnight, then squeeze out the water before use.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 4 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Milk | 1 cup (244ml) whole | 149 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Nutmeg | 1 tsp ground (2.2g) | 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.
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 + breadtop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together11,466 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).
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Bread + eggtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together22,662 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
-
Bread + nutmegtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,997 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
-
Milk + nutmegtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together14,685 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
-
Nutmeg + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together24,744 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Nutmeg and egg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 24,744 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
- Milk
- Softens the bread crumbs and adds moisture that sets into a tender pudding.
- Bread crumbs
- Form the body of the pudding and absorb the liquid.
- Eggs
- Bind the mixture and set it as it cooks, giving structure.
- Butter (in the method)
- Adds fat, which gives richness and a softer texture.
- Currants (in the method)
- Add sweetness and chewy pockets of fruit throughout the pudding.
The step that matters
Let the soaked crumbs cool completely before adding the eggs. Beaten eggs added to hot milk can scramble or cook unevenly instead of blending smoothly. Cooling the crumbs first lets the eggs mix in and set evenly during steaming.
Swap the nutmeg
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, bread, egg):
- Nutmegthe original
- Cinnamonfits about as well
- Parsleyfits less well
- Capersfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against milk, bread, 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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