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Dessert

Cabinet Pudding No. 1

A custard pudding made with layers of cake, fruit, and custard, baked in a water bath.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Mary Ronald · From a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg) · 3 ingredients
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Why it works: Milk and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 88,785 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓

Cabinet Pudding No. 1

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the mold

  1. Ornament the bottom of a well-buttered mold with citron and raisins.

  2. Cover the ornamented bottom with slices of cake.

  3. Fill the mold nearly full with alternate layers of fruit and cake, arranging the fruit on the edges of the fruit layers so it will be even and symmetrical.

Make the custard

  1. Make a custard mixture of a pint of milk, three egg-yolks, and three tablespoonfuls of sugar.

  2. Pour the custard mixture slowly into the mold, so the cake will be thoroughly soaked.

  3. Set the mold in a pan of water.

Bake and serve

  1. Bake in a slow oven for an hour, or until the custard is set.

  2. Unmold the pudding.

  3. Serve with a wine sauce.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

198Calories
8 gProtein
8 gFat
25 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 2 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By Mary Ronald. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg).

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.

  1. Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together88,785 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  2. Sugar + milktop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together77,875 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  3. Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together122,807 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

Sugar and milk barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 77,875 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

Eggs
Yolks thicken the custard and help it set firm when baked.
Milk
Forms the liquid base of the custard that soaks the cake and sets as it bakes.
Sugar
Sweetens the custard and adds flavor to the soaked cake layers.
Cake (in the method)
Absorbs the custard as it soaks, giving the pudding its body.

The step that matters

Pour the custard slowly. Pouring slowly lets the cake absorb the custard evenly and prevents it from overflowing or leaving dry pockets. Baking in a water bath then keeps the custard gentle, so it sets smoothly instead of curdling or turning grainy.

“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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