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. 2
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Cut a half pound of candied fruits into dice, using cherries, apricots, plums, limes, etc.; also shred some candied orange peel.
Butter a plain cylindrical mold well.
Sprinkle a thin layer of fruit over the bottom of the mold.
Layer the mold
Sprinkle a layer of cake (genoese or sponge layer cake) over the fruit.
Fill the mold to within an inch of the top with alternating layers of fruit and cake, also adding some macaroons.
Leave some fruit on the sides of the mold.
Make the custard
Prepare a custard mixture of one pint of milk, the yolks of five eggs, and two and one half tablespoonfuls of sugar.
Turn the custard mixture slowly into the mold.
Let the mixture stand a few minutes for the cake to absorb the liquid.
Bake and serve
Place the mold in a pan of hot water.
Poach the pudding in a slow oven for one hour.
Serve the pudding hot or cold with Sabayon, Richelieu, or Bischoff sauces.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 3 of 4 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 3 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Milk | 1 cup (244ml) whole | 149 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Fruit | 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.
-
Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Milk + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Milk and sugar 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 set it into a firm, creamy texture when gently heated.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base of the custard, which soaks into the cake and sets as it cooks.
- Cake (in the method)
- Absorbs the custard, becoming soft and helping hold the pudding together.
- Candied fruits
- Add sweetness, chewy texture and concentrated fruit flavour throughout the pudding.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the custard and balances the richness of the eggs and milk.
The step that matters
Poaching the pudding gently in a slow oven. The mold sits in hot water so the custard heats slowly. Too much heat makes egg proteins tighten too fast, leaving the custard grainy, watery or curdled instead of smooth and set.
“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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