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Dessert

Cold Cabinet Pudding

A chilled custard pudding layered with soaked ladyfingers and macaroons, flavored with vanilla, brandy, and candied cherries.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Fannie Merritt Farmer · From a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg) · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Milk and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,187 recipes. Both carry ethyl caproate, which smells fruity, apple peel. The science ↓

Cold Cabinet Pudding

Ingredients

Directions

Make the custard

  1. Soak gelatine in cold water.

  2. Add gelatine to custard made of milk, eggs, sugar, and salt.

  3. Strain custard, cool slightly, and flavor.

Build the mould

  1. Place a mould in a pan of ice water.

  2. Decorate mould with candied cherries and angelica.

  3. Cover mould with custard mixture, adding carefully by spoonfuls.

  4. When custard is firm, add a layer of ladyfingers (first soaked in custard).

  5. Add a layer of macaroons (also soaked in custard).

  6. Repeat layers, ensuring each layer is firm before adding another.

Serve

  1. Garnish and serve with Cream Sauce I and candied cherries.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

288Calories
14 gProtein
13 gFat
26 gCarbs

Counts 5 of 7 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 5 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Vanilla1 tsp extract (4ml)12
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Waternot in our table0
Brandynot in our table0

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

By Fannie Merritt Farmer. 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 + vanillatop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,187 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

  2. Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together35,032 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  3. Vanilla + brandytop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together806 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  4. Milk + brandytop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,738 recipes

    Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).

  5. Egg + brandytop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,340 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetoin (butter, cream).

Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 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

Gelatine
Sets the custard so it holds its shape when unmoulded.
Eggs
Yolks thicken the milk custard and add richness.
Milk
Forms the liquid base of the custard that sets around the layers.
Ladyfingers (in the method)
Absorb custard and provide a soft, cake-like structure between layers.
Macaroons
Soak up custard, adding chewy texture and almond sweetness between layers.
Sugar
Sweetens the custard and balances the richness of the yolks.

The step that matters

Adding the custard and each layer. Custard must be poured in slowly by spoonfuls and each layer must be firm before the next is added. If the custard is too warm or added too fast, it can mix into or sink through the layers, blurring the design and preventing a clean 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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