Why it works: Milk and bread are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,466 recipes. Both carry 2-undecenal, which smells sweet. The science ↓
Bread and Butter Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Prepare a quart dish.
Wash and pick 2 ounces of currants.
Sprinkle a few currants at the bottom of the dish.
Cut about 4 layers of very thin bread and butter.
Between each layer, sprinkle some currants.
Make the custard
Break 4 eggs in a basin, leaving out 1 white.
Beat the eggs well.
Add 4 ounces of sugar and a pinch of nutmeg.
Stir the mixture well together with a pint of new milk.
Bake
Pour the mixture over the bread layers.
Let it sit for about 10 minutes before baking.
Bake for 3/4 hour.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 6 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| 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 |
| Nutmeg | 1 tsp ground (2.2g) | 12 |
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.
-
Milk + breadtop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together11,466 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).
-
Bread + eggtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together22,662 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
-
Bread + nutmegtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,997 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
-
Milk + nutmegtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together14,685 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
-
Currant + milktop 16% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together5,475 recipes
Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).
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, giving the pudding its structure and body.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base of the custard, keeping the pudding moist as it bakes.
- Bread
- Soaks up the custard and holds its shape, forming the pudding's body.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the top brown in the oven.
- Currants
- Add small pockets of sweet, chewy fruit throughout the layers.
The step that matters
Let it sit before baking. Resting lets the bread absorb the custard evenly, so the pudding bakes moist rather than with dry patches or pooled liquid.
Swap the currant
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, milk, bread, egg, nutmeg):
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Raisinfits better
- Currantthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, milk, bread, egg, nutmeg. 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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