Why it works: Nutmeg and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,318 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓
Bread Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Soak the crumb
Grate the crumb of a stale loaf.
Pour a pint of boiling milk over the crumb and let stand for an hour.
Make the paste
Beat the mixture to a pulp.
Add six eggs, well beaten.
Add half a pound of butter.
Add the same amount of powdered sugar.
Add half a nutmeg.
Add a glass of brandy.
Add some grated lemon peel.
Bake
Put the paste in a dish and bake it.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 4 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Nutmeg | 1 tsp ground (2.2g) | 12 |
| 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.
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Nutmeg + lemontop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together11,318 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
-
Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Milk + lemontop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,053 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Milk + nutmegtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together14,685 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
-
Butter + nutmegtop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together24,377 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Stale bread crumb (in the method)
- Provides the body of the pudding, soaking up the milk to form a soft base.
- Milk
- Moistens the crumb so it softens and becomes easy to beat into a paste.
- Eggs
- Set during baking to bind the pudding into a tender, sliceable custard-like texture.
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat, giving a softer, more tender crumb.
- Powdered sugar (in the method)
- Adds sweetness and helps the pudding brown lightly at the surface.
- Nutmeg
- Adds a warm aroma to the pudding.
The step that matters
Let the crumb stand for an hour in the boiling milk. Crumb that soaks fully absorbs the hot milk evenly and softens, so the mixture beats smoothly into a pulp. Dry patches left in the crumb stay firm and make the finished pudding uneven.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, butter, egg, nutmeg):
- Vanillafits better
- Coconutfits about as well
- Lemonthe original
- Figfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against milk, butter, egg, nutmeg. 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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