Why it works: Bread and milk 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 ↓
Cabinet Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the base
Toast 4 slices of Allinson bread.
Crush the toast in your hands and soak it in 1‑1/4 pints of milk.
Whip 8 eggs.
Melt 1 oz of butter.
Add the whipped eggs and melted butter to the soaked toast.
Mix and bake
Add sugar to taste, 2 oz chopped almonds, 1 teacupful mixed currants and sultanas, and any chosen flavouring (cinnamon, lemon, vanilla, or almond essence).
Thoroughly mix all ingredients together.
Butter a pie dish and pour the mixture into it.
Put a few bits of butter on top.
Bake for 1 hour in a moderately hot oven.
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 |
| Grape | 1/2 cup (76g) | 62 |
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.
-
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 + curranttop 16% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together5,475 recipes
Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).
-
Bread + curranttop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,398 recipes
Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).
-
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
- Whipped eggs bind the soaked bread into a set, custard-like pudding.
- Milk
- Moistens the bread and forms the liquid that gives the pudding its soft, creamy texture.
- Bread
- Soaks up the milk and eggs, providing the body that holds the pudding together.
- Butter (in the method)
- Adds richness and fat, helping the top brown and the pudding taste rounder.
- Currants
- Add pockets of concentrated sweetness and chewy texture throughout the pudding.
The step that matters
Soaking the toast in milk. The toast must be crushed and fully soaked so it absorbs the milk evenly. Dry patches stay firm and bready, while the egg proteins set into a uniform custard as it bakes.
Swap the currant
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (bread, milk, egg):
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Datesfits better
- Currantthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against bread, milk, 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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