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Dessert

Almond Pudding

A sweet almond pudding made with butter, sugar, eggs, wine, and brandy, baked until set.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Eliza Leslie · From a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Almond and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,245 recipes. Both carry 2,3-pentanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓

Almond Pudding

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the almonds

  1. Take half a pound of shelled sweet almonds and three ounces of shelled bitter almonds (or peach kernels).

  2. Scald and peel the almonds; then throw them into cold water.

  3. Pound the almonds one at a time in a marble mortar, adding a few drops of rose water to each.

  4. Mix the sweet and bitter almonds together by pounding them alternately, taking them out and laying them on a plate as you do so.

  5. Beat the almonds to a fine smooth paste, free from lumps.

  6. Prepare the almonds the day before you make the pudding (optional).

Make the batter

  1. Stir half a pound of fresh butter and half a pound of powdered white sugar to a cream.

  2. Gradually pour a glass of mixed wine and brandy into the butter-sugar mixture.

  3. Beat the whites of twelve eggs to a stiff froth (reserve yolks if desired).

  4. Stir the pounded almonds and the beaten egg whites alternately into the butter-sugar mixture.

Bake and serve

  1. Pour the mixture into a buttered dish.

  2. Lay puff pastry around the edge.

  3. Bake for about half an hour.

  4. When cold, grate sugar over the pudding.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

236Calories
7 gProtein
17 gFat
14 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 4 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Almond1 almond (1.2g)7

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

By Eliza Leslie. 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. Almond + buttertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,245 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).

  2. Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together118,967 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  3. Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together98,233 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  4. Almond + sugartop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,679 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).

  5. Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together122,807 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Whipped whites trap air, giving the pudding lift and a light, set texture.
Butter
Creamed with sugar, it adds richness and a tender crumb.
Sugar
Creamed with butter for body and sweetness, and grated on top at the end.
Sweet almonds
Pounded into a smooth paste, they form the main body and nutty flavour of the pudding.
Bitter almonds
Pounded with the sweet almonds, they add a stronger, more pronounced almond flavour.

The step that matters

Folding in the beaten egg whites. Stiffly beaten whites hold the air that lifts the pudding. Stirring them in alternately with the almond paste, gently, keeps that air from collapsing and leaves the texture light rather than dense.

Swap the almond

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, sugar, egg):

  1. Almondthe original
  2. Pecansfits about as well
  3. Filbertfits less well
  4. Walnutfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, sugar, 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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