Why it works: Sugar and raisin are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 12,481 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Tapioca Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Soak one cupful of tapioca in one quart of cold water overnight.
Combine the soaked tapioca with one cupful of sugar, one and a half pints of milk, and four eggs.
Butter a plain oval mould.
Assemble and steam
Lay in some of the stale sponge cake, one third of the raisins, and one third of the peaches.
Make two layers of the remainder of the cake, raisins, and peaches.
Cover with a very thin slice of bread.
Pour the milk mixture, beaten with eggs and sugar, over the cake layers.
Set the mould in a saucepan with boiling water, so that the water reaches two-thirds up the side of the mould.
Steam for three quarters of an hour.
Serve
Turn out carefully onto a dish.
Serve with peach sauce.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 4 of 6 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 4 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Milk | 1 cup (244ml) whole | 149 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Grape | 1/2 cup (76g) | 62 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Water | not in our table | 0 |
| 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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Sugar + raisintop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,481 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
-
Milk + raisintop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,155 recipes
Shared aroma: decanoic acid (acides aroma).
-
Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Sugar + milktop 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).
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
- Tapioca
- Soaked and cooked, it thickens the milk and eggs into a soft, creamy set.
- Eggs
- Bind the custard and help it set firm when steamed.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base of the custard, giving body and richness.
- Sponge cake
- Soaks up the custard, giving the pudding a tender, layered structure.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the custard and adds to its soft texture.
The step that matters
Steam with the water at the right level. Water that reaches only two-thirds up the mould heats the custard gently and evenly, so it sets without curdling or drying at the edges. Too little or too hard a boil can leave the pudding uneven.
Swap the raisin
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, milk, egg):
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits about as well
- Raisinthe original
- Lemonfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, 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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