Why it works: Bread and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 22,662 recipes. Both carry (e)-2-octenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
A Brown Bread Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the mixture
Finely and lightly grate half a pound of stale brown bread.
Add an equal weight of suet chopped small and currants cleaned and dried.
Add half a saltspoonful of salt, three ounces of sugar, one-third of a small nutmeg grated, two ounces of candied peel, five well-beaten eggs, and a glass of brandy, then mix these ingredients thoroughly.
Boil and serve
Boil the pudding in a cloth for three hours and a half.
Serve with port wine sauce.
Add the grated rind of a large lemon to the pudding (optional).
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 5 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Nutmeg | 1 tsp ground (2.2g) | 12 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 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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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).
-
Egg + nutmegtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together24,744 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
-
Sugar + nutmegtop 20% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together23,364 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
-
Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Egg and nutmeg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 24,744 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
- Stale brown bread
- Forms the body of the pudding and soaks up the liquid as it steams.
- Suet (in the method)
- Adds fat that keeps the pudding moist and tender as it cooks.
- Eggs
- Bind the mixture and help it set into a firm, sliceable pudding.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and balances the savoury bread and suet.
- Candied peel
- Adds concentrated citrus aroma and a chewy, sweet bite.
The step that matters
Boil the pudding in a cloth for three hours and a half. The pudding must cook in gently boiling water for the full time so the egg-set crumb cooks through to the centre. Too little heat or time leaves it heavy and wet inside.
Swap the nutmeg
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, bread, egg):
- Cinnamonfits about as well
- Nutmegthe original
- Capersfits less well
- Gingerfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, bread, 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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