Why it works: Butter and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 118,967 recipes. Both carry decanal, which smells soap, orange peel. The science ↓
Pudding of Stale Cake
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Use any kind of stale cake.
Measure three cups of cake crumbs, a cup and a half of milk, three tablespoonfuls of melted butter, and two lightly beaten eggs.
Pour the milk over the crumbs and let them soak until soft.
Bake and serve
Stir in the melted butter and eggs, beat well, and pour into a mould that has been well buttered and sprinkled with fine bread crumbs.
Set the mould in a pan of hot water in the oven, cover to prevent browning, and bake for three-quarters of an hour.
Serve hot with fruit or wine sauce.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 2 of 3 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 2 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Cake | not in our table | 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.
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Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Stale cake crumbs
- Form the bulk of the pudding and absorb the milk to create a soft, moist structure.
- Milk (in the method)
- Soaks into the crumbs, softening them and giving the pudding its moist body.
- Eggs
- Bind the mixture and set when baked, giving the pudding a tender, custard-like structure.
- Melted butter
- Adds richness and moisture, giving the pudding a tender crumb and smooth texture.
The step that matters
Baking in a water bath with a cover. The hot water surrounding the mould heats the custard gently so the eggs set evenly without curdling, and the cover prevents the top from browning too quickly.
“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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