Why it works: Milk and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
A Bread Pudding for a Family
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Divide the loaf into four equal-sized pieces.
Soak the pieces in boiling water for twenty minutes.
Squeeze out the water.
Make the custard
Put the bread into a saucepan with the milk, butter, sugar, lemon peel, and salt.
Stir all together on the fire until it boils.
Add the beaten eggs and the currants.
Bake
Pour the pudding into a properly sized greased baking dish.
Bake for an hour and a quarter.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 6 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Milk | 1 cup (244ml) whole | 149 |
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Plum | 1 medium (66g) | 30 |
| 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.
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.
-
Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Milk + plumtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together406 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
-
Plum + lemontop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together623 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
-
Milk + lemontop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,053 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Butter + plumtop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together710 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Set the custard as they cook, holding the soaked bread together in a firm, sliceable pudding.
- Milk
- Provides the liquid that softens the bread and forms the creamy custard base.
- Butter
- Adds fat for a richer flavour and a softer, more tender crumb.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the pudding brown lightly on top as it bakes.
- Loaf (in the method)
- Its soaked, squeezed crumb absorbs the custard and gives the pudding its body.
The step that matters
Add the beaten eggs. Eggs thicken the custard as they warm, but if the mixture is too hot they can curdle and turn grainy. Adding them to a mixture that has just boiled and is then taken off the heat helps them set smoothly.
Swap the plum
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, butter, sugar, lemon, egg):
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Peachfits better
- Plumthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against milk, butter, sugar, lemon, 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.
More bread pudding recipes
You might also like
Lemon Cake228 recipes
Lemon Ice147 recipes
Lemon Sherbet103 recipes
Lemon Custard64 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.